


Carry On, Hermione

by strawberryexplosion



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Creature Hermione, F/M, Family, Romance, Veela
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2018-10-08 05:49:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 54,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10379853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryexplosion/pseuds/strawberryexplosion
Summary: Hermione is a Veela. Draco is her mate. Welp, it's time to drown in booze and carry on with her life. That pale haired elitist surely won't mate with a mudblood like her. Warning: Depicts your favorite characters as adults in their 20s.





	1. Chapter 1

Carry On Hermione

As she lay unmoving, Hermione concluded that sleeping with her potions partner was a bad idea. If it were not for her pounding headache and the overwhelming feeling of guilt, she would gather her clothes and lock herself in her dormitory.

She knew from the college movies she watched that she needed to get out of here to avoid the morning after on what was supposed to be a one-night stand. However, it was not a one-night stand, now was it? Anthony and she still had potions to brew for their restorative medical-potion class.

"Good morning sleepy head," Anthony Goldstein, her lab partner, murmured beside her.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on her temple. The sweet gesture made her want to smile but she could not because of how horrible she felt. Her shoulders were tense, her voice sounded cracked. Anthony, the attentive person that he was, noticed this and asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing," Hermione said. "I just feel dizzy that's all."

"Well, we did drink a lot of Firewhiskey last night. You must feel dehydrated right about now. Do you want me to fetch you a glass of water?" Anthony offered.

Hermione silently nodded. She peeked through the covers and watched as Anthony's blonde head walked toward his kitchen. He made sure to get her a perfectly clear glass and he even added a squeeze of lemon, just because he knew that Hermione appreciates it when restaurants take the time to add a little extra on something so simple.

Hermione on her part knew that her massive headache was not alcohol-induced. No, Hermione knew it was her veela heritage punishing for doing something incredibly stupid and thoughtless last night.

How could she, Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her time, ever thought that she could simply override her veela heritage if she dated or kissed someone who was not her mate? Let alone losing her maidenhead to someone who was completely different from her mate?

Anthony handed her the glass of water. He gently told her to rest in his bedroom as long as she needed. She took that invitation and went back to sleep. Her groggy eyes blurred Anthony's smiling face into Draco Malfoy's sneering one.

When Hermione received her Hogwarts acceptance letters at 11 years old, her parents all agreed to tell their friends and relatives that a prestigious boarding school in Scotland accepted her.

When both of her grandmothers heard the news, they sat little Hermione down and explained her inheritance. They both knew that the "prestigious boarding school in Scotland" was actually Hogwarts. Apparently, by sheer unadulterated luck, both of her grandmothers were daughters of full-fledged veelas who mated with muggles.

For two whole generations, there were no one magical in their family, therefore, they simply thought that their dormant magical genes would simply die out. However, with the revelation that Hermione was really a witch, both grandmothers feared that they Hermione would inherit their veela heritage as well. Which she did.

The only problem was, Hermione's grandmothers were descended from two completely different types of veelas.

Her paternal grandmother was descended from French Veelas. They were famous for their gorgeous looks and for having one true mate. They were the types who would die if they could not find and claim their one true mate by the time they were thirty. While this was distressing news to Hermione, French Veelas did have magical capabilities to help them find their mate. They could sense their mate from a mile away, as they were instinctively drawn to their scent and magic. French Veelas also received a "mate dream" during their 21st birthday where their mate's face was revealed to them.

On the other hand, her maternal grandmother was descended from the Greek Veelas, similar to the ones the Bulgarian Quidditch team brought with them as mascots during the 1994 Quidditch world cup. While the French Veelas were beautiful, the Greek Veelas attracted males from a mile away with their voices and movement. Like French Veelas, Greek Veelas also have one true mate but they could live a perfectly healthy life without them. Greek Veelas could also switch from one man to the next without consequences. The only drawback was that the Greek Veelas knew who their one true mate was if they made physical contact.

Neither Hermione nor her grandmothers knew what type of veela traits Hermione inherited. While each grandmother fought whose genes were stronger, Hermione strongly suspected that she was a mixture of both.

She inherited the unruly curly hair Greek Veelas had but she lacked the natural talent for song and dance. While Hermione did not have the ungodly good looks that French Veelas had, she did have her "mate dream" and it revealed that her mate was Draco Malfoy.

Her mate was Draco Malfoy, who was a known all over the Wizarding world as a pureblood womanizer. Witch Weekly made sure to document Malfoy's conquests and their bloodlines. Apparently, Malfoy only dated women who at the very least could trace all pureblood ancestors for three generations.

One woman apparently had a half-blood great-grandmother and it was a big deal when the news broke out. Did that mean that the Malfoy family was more welcoming now to those who had less than pure blood? The answer came the next day when news broke out that the woman was dumped.

Hermione just hoped that she did not inherit the French Veelas' tendency to die at the age of 30 if they had not claimed their mate. In the meanwhile, Hermione decided not to revolve her life around one man who she knew was simply not right for her, magical genetics be damned. She made the resolution to carry on with her life.

If only it did not hurt so much.


	2. Chapter 2

Carry On Hermione

It turned out that it was firewhiskey that was punishing Hermione, and not her French Veela heritage. Anthony, the sweetheart that he was, made sure that she drank at least three tall glasses of water the morning after and he even cooked her a greasy brunch for the hangover.

She knew for sure that it was the firewhiskey when Anthony and she had one more round of hide-the-broomstick after brunch. She turned out feeling fine afterward.

Why did she play another round of hide-the-broomstick after a massive headache you ask? Simple, because Hermione was a scientist and scientists repeat experiments just to make sure. As a trainee medical researcher at St. Mungo's hospital, she could not simply loose her V card while drunk and pass it off as a failure when she felt bad afterwards. No, she had to screw the guy the next day while perfectly sober to make sure.

Now she knew that she could sleep with someone who was not her mate without consequences. She already knew that she could kiss someone without consequences after she made out with Viktor Krum during her Fourth Year. But she had to make sure that she could still make out with someone who was not her mate after she had her mate dream. Therefore, she made out with Charlie Weasley last Christmas during the Weasley's annual Yule party.

The thought made Hermione blush. When she started counting off all her experiences it made her sound like a slag going through her "slut phase" in university. But Fleur and Ginny liked to call it her "experimental stage."

"We don't know what traits you do have and what traits you don't," Ginny argued.

"Yezz.. we neet to test out all of them just to make zure." Fleur said in her heavily accented English.

Of course, the one trait they were all worried about is the dying at the age of thirty trait. Ginny was more apprehensive about this and wanted Hermione to look for her mate as soon as possible. Fleur on the other hand was more relaxed about it.

"Zhe has a decade to findhim,." Fleur said. "Zhehaz all the time in the world."

The next step would be to see if she could switch sleeping with from one man to the next without consequences as well. It's perfectly possible that her veela half would just latch on to the first guy who deflower her and count it off as a mate. There were some records of French Veelas who never had their mate dream because by the time they were 21, they already started a family and their Veela simply considered whoever they are with as their mate. There were also stories of Greek Veelas who never found their mate for whatever reason so they end up marrying whoever deflowered them.

But Hermione already had her mate dream so she doesn't know how that would work out.

Needless to say, it sucked to be a new breed of veela. She had to figure out almost everything all on her own but it was good to have friends who could help her out.

For the meantime, Hermione has to make sure that she went through her classes for the rest of the week so she could talk to Fleur during the Weasley's weekly Sunday roast.

* * *

For this week's roast, Hermione decided to recycle one of the old dresses she bought when she was eighteen. Buying a new Sunday dress whenever she grow old and tired of another dress placed a drain in Hermione's student budget so she started recycling her dresses. With just a couple of spells, Hermione could make alterations and make old dresses look like new. Oh how she love magic.

This week's recycled dress was a lilac patterned with large purple roses. It had a bit too much cloth at the bottom so Hermione made the bottom asymmetrical and cinched the waist. Now only the most fashionably conscious could tell that the dress is three years old.

She tried to control her hair in a bun but some hair ended up escaping so she settled on a half-bun and tried to apply makeup. The late nights at the St. Mungo's lab were not helping her complexion so she tried to fake a healthy complexion. She dusted lilac eye shadow, applied mascara and applied peach lipstick to finish it off.

Happy with her appearance, Hermione grabbed the peach cobbler she made last night and apparated to the Weasley's backyard where the Weasleys are already gathering. Little Teddy Lupin was playing with Victoire Weasley who was just learning how to walk as Fleur watch. Molly was catching up with Andromeda who became a regular fixture in the Weasley brunch after the war. Arthur and Percy are in the kitchen carving the meat while almost everybody else is setting up for the pick-up quidditch game later in the afternoon.

"Hermione! You look absolutely gorgeous." Molly said

She handed off the peach cobbler to Molly and exchanged pleasantries with the rest of the Weasleys. When she got to Ginny, she spun her around making her skirt twirl along with her.

"Is that the same dress you bought three years ago?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, I just made a few alterations." Hermione smiled.

"I think it looks better on you now that it did before." Ginny complimented.

"Yezz… it zeemz that Hermione iz getting prettier and prettier every year." Fleur commented making Hermione blush.

"Okay everybody, the food is ready so find your place," Arthur announced.

Hermione sat in between Ron and Harry who both gave her a hug upon seeing her.

"Hey, there's our little scientist," Harry said.

"Well if isn't my little Aurors." She replied, her smile beaming.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron said, trying to act casually.

"So how are things at the Ministry?" Hermione asked.

"They are working us to the brink there Hermione." Harry said with a smile on his face. "They were making sure that all Aurors including the new ones have quick reflexes. It's kind of funny seeing fifty year old Aurors trying to keep up with stealth training. But I think everybody gained ten pounds of muscle on their calves alone."

"I think there were some female Aurors who were complaining that they couldn't fit in their skinny jeans anymore," Ron said smilingly.

He made eye contact with Hermione for a brief second before turning away. Hermione gave him a sad smile but part of her was kind of happy that she could still affect Ron months after their breakup.

Ron and Hermione dated soon after the Final Battle but they broke up as soon as Hermione had her "mate dream" eight months ago. For a while, she hoped that her mate would turn out to be Ron to make things a lot easier for everybody but fate had other plans. She tried pretending that nothing was wrong; to "keep calm and carry on" but it was the beginning of the end for them.

Hermione stopped making out with Ron in fear of how her Veela heritage would react to her making out with someone who was not her mate. While Greek Veelas could move from one male to the next, French Veelas suffer a curse almost as painful as the Cruciatus Curse when touched sexually by someone who was not her mate. At the time Hermione did not knew which trait she inherited so she avoided any sexual touching altogether. Ron brushed it off to the side and for a while, Hermione thought everything would be alright.

Then the Weasley family started asking them when they would get married.

It was at that point that Hermione realized that it was not fair for her, Ron and the rest of the Weasley family to keep up the charade. Ron deserved to be with a girl who wants to start a small family at a young age like he did.

And the last thing Hermione wanted to do was leave Ron with young children if she dies at the age of thirty.

Hermione broke it off with him in October. She told him that they were too young, that she wanted to explore her options more fully before settling down. That she feared that they might grow apart and the last thing she wanted was for her and Ron to stop being friends and that they should end it while they were still in good terms.

Ron protested for a while, then he got angry. When Hermione pointed out that they stopped being physical to one another, he agreed that this was inevitable so they broke it off. For a while, they avoided eye contact during Weasley Weekly Brunch but time helped heal all wounds.

At first the Weasley family was just bidding their time for them to get back together but then Hermione told Fleur and Ginny her predicament who in turn spread around that the pair were likely to never getting back together. She told Ginny because she was her best friend. She told Fleur because she also had veela heritage but since she has an unpaired veela gene Fleur only some veela traits such as insanely good looks. She did not have a mate nor did she had a mate dream. She fell in love with Bill all on her own.

Hermione quickly deduced that the veela gene was a recessive gene and it took two recessive genes for it to show up. Since Hermione does have two veela genes from her grandmothers, even though they are two different types of veelas, Hermione received the full force of veela problems. While her veela heritages contradict in many ways, they both agreed that Hermione had a mate. And his name was Draco "git" Malfoy.

She never told Fleur and Ginny about her mate dream, though . As far as they were concerned, they have to find her mate through the Greek veela way, by touching as many males as possible.

By the time of Weasley's annual Yule Celebration, Ron was dating someone new and Hermione had a glass of Firewhiskey in her hand. Hermione almost drunk in a stupor if it were not for Charlie Weasley who came back from Romania for Christmas. He stole her Firewhiskey with one hand and her waist with another when she passed him by in a hallway.

"Wotcher Mione. We don't want you throwing up all over yourself now do we?" Charlie said with his brilliant smile.

At that point, Hermione was musing at the unfairness of it all. She had all the problems of both veela heritages without the looks, the talent nor the grace to attract her git of a "mate" who was off to the Caribbean with his then-girlfriend for the holidays according to _Witch Weekly_. At the time, there were even rumors that they already met each other's parents and were on their way to the wedding aisle. On top of it all, she could not touch any other males or anyone who she actually was attracted to because she was too damn afraid of how her body would react.

But then Hermione noticed how Charlie was even more good-looking than Ron and how years of working as a dragon-tamer helped him develop well-toned muscles. He was giving her a winning smile and for some reason, he was the only one in that hallway with her.

Was it wrong for her to want to kiss her ex-boyfriend's brother? Even if her ex-boyfriend has moved on? But Hermione saw Charlie bend over, his lips almost ghosting over hers. Does he want to…? She wondered if she reached over then and pecked him, would she feel pain? His lips were so full, Hermione wondered if it would feel like a soft pillow. He was shorter than Ron, so it was easier for Hermione to stand on her toes and kiss him.

The kiss started out sloppy and her breath reeked of alcohol. Charlie wrapped his arms around her. His tongue, seeking entrance as he tried to push her against the wall.

The loud thud of her Hermione's back hitting against the wall made them aware of how visible they were right in the hallway. With a tilt of his head, Charlie told Hermione to follow him. He brought her to his room and proceeded to kiss Hermione again.

He laid her down his old bed and pulled down her jeans so he could play with her clit with his experienced fingers. He kissed her mouth then peppered her neck with kisses. Hermione took off her sweater and Charlie pushed up her shirt to expose her C cup breasts framed by her polka-dot bra.

"Mione, Mione, Mione. How long have you been hiding these under all those clothing?" Charlie murmured.

Hermione blushed. It was the first time anyone saw her breasts. Ron didn't even get his hand under her shirt.

Charlie pushed up her bra and suckled on her left tit all the while he played with her clit. His hands were pulling down her pants so he could have better access to her clit. He ran his fingers over her mound, hinting of what he really wanted to do to her.

He stopped teasing her and reached for her clit, sending shivers all over Hermione's body. His expert fingers circled over her clit faster and faster. His other fingers ghosting over her opening but they never entered.

At this point, Hermione was breathing hard and she was holding back screams but soft whimpers escaped her lips.

"Hush Mione," Charlie whispered breathlessly.

Pleasure built up within her more and more. It was not long until Hermione Granger reached her first orgasm at the age of twenty-one.

When Hermione came down from her high, she came to the realization that she did not feel any pain anywhere like she thought she would. Charlie for his part, helped make Hermione look presentable to his family and they both headed downstairs to exchange Christmas gifts.

* * *

After lunch Fleur and Hermione helped clean out the table while everybody else played a pick-up Quidditch game. Usually Molly would clean up while Fleur watched her husband and Hermione read a novel but Hermione wanted to talk to Fleur about Anthony. It would seem that Fleur wanted to talk to her privately as well when she asked Molly and Andromeda to look out for the little children.

"I notizzed that you are getting prettier," Fleur said.

"Thank you Fleur, you are very kind," Hermione replied.

"Non. I mean it. You may not zee it for yourzelf but you are much prettier now than a year ago." Fleur said. "It muzt be ze French Veela in you. You might be a late bloomer"

"I think it's a bit late for me to be a late bloomer." Hermione joked. After a while she said. "I just put on a bit of makeup, that's all."

"Non, it's more than that," Fleur said. "The way you move iz entrancing. I brought Victoire to St. Mungo's for a checkup thiz pazt week and me zaw you and your clazz. I zee you pazz by with your hair piled top of your head and even then there are zome people in your clazz who could not ztop looking at you."

Hermione blushed at the compliment. She never noticed how people look at her and maybe Fleur was right. That doesn't' stop her from denying it, though.

"I beat you have more suitors when you were seventeen than I do when I am twenty-one," Hermione said, remembering how the boys at Hogwarts were drooling all over themselves when she passed by during her fourth year.

"I am not talking about me, Hermione. I am talking about you. I zwear Hermione. You could pick any boy in your clazz as your beau. They would probably even trip over themzelvez to have a date wiz you." Fleur said.

Hermione blushed. She remembered when Hermione asked Anthony to study with her. He was a bit too eager, too excited to say yes. He even brought a pound-yes a pound-of notes with him on the library. He even insisted that they continue studying for the next chapter at his dorm after the library closed down. Now that she had time to think about it, it was normal for Hermione to study ahead for class but it was unusual for anybody else.

Hermione must have been thinking too long because Fleur gasped right next to her.

"Non. You zlept with a clazzmate did you?" Fleur said, aghast.

Hermione's face turned beet red before she answered "Yes okay." Hermione whispered harshly.

"Vell? Iz he your mate?" Fleur asked.

That was the standard question Fleur and Ginny asked whenever she even touched a boy in the past few months after she told them her secret.

"No, there isn't any spark that the books talk about," Hermione said.

"But you gave him your virginity no?" Hermione nodded. "Oh no, zat would mean that he would be enamored with you zhe next time you zee him. "

Hermione shook her head. Anthony knew perfectly well that it was just a one-time thing with no strings attached. Besides, Hermione read that women tend to feel attached to the men they lost their virginity to. If anything, it should be her who would have feelings for Anthony, not the other way around.

"You hav no idea what power you hav over men don't you?" Fleur said.

"I know that veelas could attract males with their good looks, song, and dance. But I don't have gorgeous looks like you and-"

"No." Fleur interrupted. "Both French and Greek Veelas are unforgettable. Yez, men would move on with and get married but men don't forget a veela for the rest of their livez."

Hermione blushed. Unsure of what to say.

"I know that you got to gezther with Charlie lazt Chriztmaz" Fleur said. " I knew this because he couldn't ztop talking about you when he went back to Romania. He writez Molly every month and he kept azking about you. He even planz to vizit zometime thiz month juzt to zhe you. Molly iz even making planz for your wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters here are not mine. They belong to J.K Rowling. I'm just stealing them and raising them as my own.


	3. Chapter 3

Carry On Hermione

Fleur should not have told her that Anthony Goldstein might have feelings for her. Despite Hermione's thirst for knowledge, there were some things she preferred she did not know.

It was one thing that they are just two friends having fun sexy time together but it was another when feelings were involved. Hermione thought back to all the smiles and the jokes they shared during class. She thought about their easy partnership and she realized that someone like Ron's girlfriend Lavender Brown would consider it as a form of flirting.

Maybe Anthony interpreted it as flirting, which troubled Hermione. The last thing Hermione wanted was to make Anthony think that they were dating.

She tried to pretend nothing was wrong during their next Restorative Medical Potions class but Hermione still felt anxious and it showed on her actions. She sat a few inches away from him than usual. She unconsciously placed her bag to the corner closest to the door, just in case she wanted to flee.

If Anthony noticed anything wrong with Hermione, he did not mention it. Instead, he gave her one of his gorgeous smiles.

"So how was the Sunday roast at the Weasley's?" Anthony Goldstein asked.

"Oh you know, the same old same old. There are good food, good conversation, and a pick-up Quidditch game afterward and we all went back home with enough food for the next roast." Hermione replied.

"Sounds like a great time," Anthony said.

"How was your weekend?" Hermione asked back.

"Oh, nothing special. I just visited the parents, they asked me how was my training to be a Healer and I'm the second best student in the class. Only second to the brightest witch of her age herself."

The compliment made Hermione blush.

Healer Oliver entered the classroom and instructed the class to brew a batch of skele-grow each. It would take two weeks to brew the potion properly and though each person was required to make their own, they could ask their lab partner for help.

Without saying a single word to each other, Hermione and Anthony prepared the ingredients and took turns on using the equipment in front of them.

If Anthony did not notice Hermione's awkwardness before, he could definitely sense them now. Hermione worked too quickly, as if she was eager to finish today's task. She accidentally dropped her raw ingredients, then her silver knife, and various other materials afterwards. With every item her butterfingers slipped, the class glared at her. Even Theodore Nott who was usually oblivious of his surroundings looked up from his desk to glare at her.

With much trial and error, Hermione managed to finish today's task and prep for next class with thirty minutes left to spare. Anthony was right behind her because he was finishing up. As calmly as she could muster, she took off her goggles and her lab coat and stored them in her in-class locker.

She left the classroom only but Anthony stopped her by the door. He was still wearing his lab outfit and there was a concerned look on his face.

"Hey, Hermione," Anthony called out.

"Hey what's up?"

"Umm… I really don't know how to say this but is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's alright." Hermione insisted.

"Really? 'cause you seemed to be in a little bit of a hurry back there," Anthony said. "Is there something wrong? Is someone sick in the family?"

"No, nothing is wrong." Hermione insisted.

He looked pensive for a minute.

"Okay, if you need anything. I am your friend. Just come to me if you need anything"

* * *

If Sundays were Weasley Family time, Monday afternoons was teatime for Harry and Hermione. Every week, Harry and Hermione would alternate visiting each other so they could enjoy a spot of tea and some snacks. It was their own way of keeping in touch with one another without the distraction of anybody else. This week, it was Hermione's turn to visit Harry at the Ministry at his own private office.

Normally, newly appointed Aurors did not have their own offices but Harry was… well, he was Harry Potter. While Harry wanted to be treated like everybody else but he was still the famous Boy Who Lived and the infamous Man Who Slew.

When Harry was attending Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Hogwarts's administration protected from the majority of the press's attention. As soon as the word got out that Harry was training to be an Auror, the press tried their best to capture an image of the valiant Harry Potter training, eating and even relaxing. The Auror trainers did their best to keep the press at bay but there was virtually no stopping them once Harry became a full-fledged Auror. After all, the Ministry was public property.

Harry's first few weeks as an Auror was memorable for the chaos it caused. The paparazzi were relentless in their pursuit to take a picture of anything and everything Harry Potter does. By the end of the week, the entire Auror department agreed that they should just give Harry Potter his own office. The amount of paparazzi presence lessened afterwards but there were still people from _Witch Weekly_ , _PlayWitch_ , and _Daily Prophet_ who hang around.

When Hermione arrived in front of Harry's office, the door was wide open and Harry was talking with Hermione instantly recognized as Draco Malfoy. Though he was sitting with his back turned against her, something deep inside her knew it was her mate.

He was wearing dark business robes and there was a briefcase right beside him. His back was towards Hermione but she could tell that he started combing his hair back like his father. Hermione could not tell if he got taller, but she could tell that his shoulders broadened.

It was the first time Hermione saw him in over three years since the Battle of Hogwarts. It was also the first time Hermione saw him since her mate dream. The effect was much stronger than Hermione could have anticipated.

Hermione's veela was screaming for him. It became difficult to stand there, looking at him, when her veela urged her to run towards him and to kiss him senseless. She imagined slamming the door shut and stunning her best friend. She imagined claiming her mate right there and then.

When Draco stood up from his seat, Hermione held her breath. His face was as pointy as ever but it suited him. His skin was almost iridescent against his all-black clothing.

Hermione's veela could almost soar in happiness but the impassive look on his face broke Hermione's heart. His face showed no look of annoyance Hermione expected. Not even a look of recognition.

Hermione already accepted that her mate would never have affections for her the way her veela craved. It just hurt that he did not even seem to remember her at all. As if, she was insignificant.

Hermione shook her head. Of course, she was insignificant to him. She already knew that. So why did it still hurt?

Hermione moved away as Draco passed her and it took more strength than she realized to watch him pass by, when all she wanted to do was to run after him and confess everything. How she was secretly a veela, and how he was her mate. And that was the tamest thing she wanted to do to him. Damn veela hormones.

But she said nothing. Her mate passed her by without even acknowledging her presence.

"Hey, Hermione. Is it tea time already?" Harry greeted.

Hermione quickly got her composure together and gave Harry her least forced looking forced smile she could muster.

"Yep. I even brought digestive biscuits from the store." Hermione said and closed the door before she asked. "What was Malfoy doing here?"

"Oh, he's going to be one of the sponsors for this year's Ministry Victory Ball this weekend."

"Really? We're having sponsors this year?"

"Yeah. We're trying to get people to donate things for a silent auction as a fundraiser for the children's orphanage."

"Hmm… that doesn't sound like something Malfoy would do." Hermione said.

"Donors' names would be featured in an article about 'their generous contribution to the Wizarding World's neediest' at the Prophet. The orphanage is also planning to put up a plaque on the orphanage's new ward. The bigger the donation, the larger the font."

"Let me guess, he donated a large sum so that the Malfoy name would be the largest one in the plaque?"

Harry smiled. "Yep. If Malfoy had his way, there would be an entire plaque for him and one for everybody else."

"Ron wouldn't like that," Hermione said.

"Hmm. He would probably say that the only reason Malfoy that large of a donation was because he wants to reinvent his family's image."

"That's because the reason the Malfoy family is making a donation that big is because to reinvent his family's image," Hermione said though she felt guilty after she said it.

She laid out the digestive biscuits as Harry prepared the tea. As she set up the teacups, she had an itch to defend her mate.

"Then again, that's the reason why most people would donate for the Victory Ball in the first place was to improve their image," Hermione said. "In that way, Malfoy is just like anyone else."

"I guess that's true," Harry said thoughtfully.

As they let the tea brew, they chatted about the speeches they had to make at the ball. Minister Shacklebolt asked them to make a speech how they really appreciate the contribution and thank all the high society people invited for their donations. Neither Harry nor Hermione let along Ron wanted to make a speech in front of a ball. However it was for the orphans, so the three of them agreed.

Their teatime conversation that week revolved around the ball. They decided that the three of them should come together to show a united front. They talked at length at what they were going to wear. Harry already had a set of dress-robes since the one he bought last year still fit him while Hermione needed to buy a new set of dress-robes altogether.

"I hate this societal expectation for women to have a new set of dress-robe for every formal occasion," Hermione grumbled. "I wish I could just re-use my old dress-robe from last year but the press would have a field day."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't mind it if women wear the same thing twice," Harry said. "I mean, I saw the price tag on Ginny's dress robes last Saturday and she ought to wear it at least five more times."

Hermione nodded in agreement. She drank her tea and bit on her biscuit. All the while, she tried to press her knees together as hard as she could.

* * *

Sigmund Freud wrote that people deal with their libido six different ways. Those are repression, denial, projection, displacement, regression, and sublimation.

Hermione's veela had a large libido ever since she first glanced at her mate. During teatime with Harry, Hermione managed to hold back her libido but she could not get rid of it entirely just by pressing her knees together. And she definitely could not wait until her libido shuts down.

She had to get rid of it one-way or another but the only thing that seemed acceptable to was to screw somebody else. In other words, Hermione quickly learned that her veela liked to deal with its libido through displacement.

As soon as she got out of Harry's office, she made a beeline towards Anthony's dorm room. She had to push away five different people on the way to the Ministry's floo networks and she practically ran up the dormitory stairs, pushing away the students in her way.

She banged several times on Anthony's door. She was so loud that she swore the whole dormitory could hear her.

"Hermione, what-" Anthony asked.

He looked tired, she could tell that he was reading a dense textbook. Maybe he was still busy reading a textbook but none of it mattered to Hermione right now. She forced herself into the dorm room and closed the door.

"You said that you would be a friend to me first, Anthony."

"Yeah, but I don't know what this about-"

Hermione started undressing herself

"Wait, Wait-what are you-"

"Anthony, could you be a friend to me and sleep with me please?"

"Wait. What-"

"I said, could you be a good friend and sleep with me?" Hermione repeated. Her voice lost its confidence it had just a few seconds ago.

Anthony grabbed a jacket from the coat rack and wrapped it around her.

"Hermione, what's going on? What is this about?"

"I…I just needed to feel desired right now," Hermione said. This time, her voice was barely above a whisper.

For a minute, Anthony just looked at her. For the first time, Hermione could experience the phenomenon people call "silence was deafening." Embarrassment overwhelmed her as she clutched the jacket closer. She should not have come here. She should have just bought a toy from one of those sex shops at London and dealt with it herself.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have barged in like this." She bent over to grab her clothes. "I didn't know what I was thinking. This must the dumbest thing that I have ever done."

Anthony placed his hand on top of Hermione's, his eyes staring deeply into hers. He took a step forward and kissed her forehead, her nose, and finally her lips. Hermione dropped her clothes to the floor.

Anthony gently guided her hands down to his arousal. She could feel it hardening against her palms. His breathing was labored and his forehead was pressed against hers. She blushed but she did not know whether because the act was so intimate or because of her effect on him. Perhaps it was both.

"Hermione, you must be the most desirable woman I ever met." Anthony's voice was raspy.

For a minute, she looked straight at Anthony's eyes and she could tell that he was sincere which made Hermione blush even further. She felt powerful knowing that she could make him feel this way. If her mate desired her the way Anthony did.

Hermione quickly pushed down any thoughts of Draco and reached up to kiss Anthony. He took his jacket off her shoulders and kissed her with enthusiasm.

Anthony made sure she felt the most desirable woman in the world that afternoon. He made sure she reach her peak repeatedly and after each completion, Hermione was ready to go for another round.

Despite Hermione's eagerness, in the back of her mind, it all felt wrong. He was too broad, too muscular and his face was too friendly. His golden locks were too dark.

It was way after dinnertime before Hermione's veela was fully sated. They skipped dinner and both of them are simply too tired to eat. Without talking, they agreed to lay on Anthony's too small bed for the rest of the night. Their bodies were covered with sweat and their breathing was labored.

Hermione could tell that Anthony was ready to sleep, she felt sleepy as well. She turned her head towards him and she saw his satisfied smile. She knew she would hate herself for what she would say next. At the same time, she would hate herself more if she did not say it.

"Thanks for being a good friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of these characters belong to me, they belong to JK Rowling. I just want to play with them.


	4. Chapter 4

The Ministry Victory Ball started out with the Order of the Phoenix's Remembrance Day of the Fallen. The first organizers and participants were Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and many members of the Order of the Phoenix who spent the one-year anniversary of Voldemort's death at their friends' graves.

They spent the day either quietly mourning or they shared precious memories they shared with the dead. A couple of people laughed as they shared memories while a couple of people cried. After they shared stories, they cleaned up the gravesites. They made sure that the gravestone was clean, the grass was cut and they left a bouquet of flowers at every gravesite. It was a cathartic day for everybody.

The next day, the Daily Prophet published a full-page exclusive on the "Golden Trio's" heroism, bravery, and loyalty to their friends complete with a "Where Are They Now" section. The article even had pictures of them. How the Daily Prophet even obtained a picture of them was a mystery to everyone at the Order.

To the public, the article struck a chord. Many families all over Wizarding Europe commemorated the day in one way or another. Some families mourned while many more celebrated. Meanwhile, the Ministry had done absolutely nothing to commemorate the day. On top of that, the image of Harry Potter and his friends at the gravesite brought memories of people who were still struggling after the war.

Normally it was not a big a deal. However, the Ministry of Magic played a role persecuting mudbloods and helping Death Eaters. The Ministry's lack of response looked like their role during the war under the rug.

The general population was simply pissed off. Never mind that there the new Minister of Magic was present at the gravesite along with the "Golden Trio". Never mind that many of those who were in charge during Voldemort's occupation of the Ministry of Magic either were in a jail cell or were awaiting trial.

Andromeda pointed out that the real reason the public was because there was an overwhelming need to do something. It had been a year since the Battle at Hogwarts and there were still a lot of things that still needed attention. The orphanages were overflowing, the houses still needed fixing and there were still businesses that still that have yet to recover from the war. It was less because the Ministry of Magic did nothing; it was more because the Wizarding World needed something to be done.

Minister Kingsley decided to address those issues and called his closest advisors to have a discussion on what to do. It took an entire week but the Minister and their advisors came up with a two-step solution. The Ministry started with what they could do.

There were still Death Eaters and former Ministry officials that were still awaiting trial, particularly Umbridge. The old hag still had some sway in Wizengamot from her jail cell and there were many others like her. In response, the Minister decreed that the public, the ones who were most affected by Voldemort's reign, were the ones who would judge the rest of those awaiting trial.

Five different courts were set up to speed up the process without sacrificing the quality. The results were that each defendant had a trial twice as long. But overall, the trials concluded within five months after the decree.

The law was controversial for many of those who were awaiting trial. Many of the well-connected and rich defendants wanted to bribe their way. It was easier to bribe people they already had connections with either through business or through family. Very few defendants, those who had lighter sentences, were relieved that the trials were finished.

The second thing the Ministry decided to do was to host a Victory Ball every year at rich and likely pureblood homes. The goal was to raise money for whatever caused needed it for the next year. Last year it was to fix the broken homes and businesses. This year was to raise money for the orphanage.

It was not Kingsley's idea but his Senior Undersecretary wanted to make a public display that the Ministry was actually doing something. It was also a way to appease the richer pureblood families by giving them a chance to clean up their name in the most glamorous way possible.

As a result, the Ministry's Victory ball was an intentional press photo-op. Members of press made up almost a quarter of guests. Each of them was free to take pictures with the Wizarding Wolrd's greatest heroes, from war heroes to athletes.

Last year's Victory Ball provided a weeks' worth of material. They described each famous person wore in attendance and who came with whom. They talked about what was on the menu, the décor and the ambiance.

If the idea were not so muggle, the Ministry would lay out the red carpet complete with a wall of paparazzi.

This year's Victory ball was at the Nott Mansion, owned by Hermione's classmate Theodore Nott. Nott's father was one of the first few who were tried by Wizengamot. He did not protest his trial even though he had the means to do so. It was probably because he was too old to care how long he would stay in Azkaban. The sentence was as followed, Wizengamot found that he was guilty of all charges and Nott Sr. was sent to life in jail.

Theodore Nott, on the other hand, did absolutely nothing during the war but he still received bad press from his father's actions. Hosting this year's Victory Ball all gave Nott an opportunity to clean up his name in the public eye.

When Hermione arrived with Harry and Ron at Nott's front garden, she could tell that Nott took a lot of preparation for this year's Ball.

The house was large with well-trimmed grass and hedges. There was a large lawn and an even bigger backyard. Two rows of magic lantern light the pathway from Nott's front garden to his front door. The grass and hedges were well trimmed. Two fountains were at either side of the pathway lit by a spell that has the same effect as muggle fairy lights.

The inside of the house was as immaculate as the outside. Everything from the portraits to the knickknacks were polished to the point that they were shiny but not blinding. The ballroom was set up so that there was there was a large dance floor in the middle while round tables were scattered on the side. The large French doors that were lined across the ballroom lead to balconies.

There were no servers in sight, so Hermione suspected that the food would come to them as soon as they ordered similar to how they served food during the Yule Ball during the Triwizard Tournament.

When the Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the ballroom, they were immediately bombarded with the press. Camera flashes almost blinded them but they knew that they needed to get their obligatory interviews finished so that the paparazzi would bother somebody else instead of them.

"Harry Potter! Harry Potter! You and Ginerva Weasley have been dating for a long time now. When are you going to propose?" A reporter asked.

"When we're ready," Harry responded.

"Who designed your outfits today?"

"Madam Malkins," Harry said.

"Same for me," Ron said.

"How about you Hermione? Who designed that lovely dress robe of yours?"

"Madam Malkin," Hermione repeated.

"So is Madam Malkin the official dresser of the Golden Trio?"

"For this occasion she is," Harry said.

"Ron and Harry, how does it feel like catching petty criminals after you guys took down You-Know-Who?"

"A lot more tiring than you would expect," Harry said.

"Hermione, what are you doing with your life?" a Rita-Skeeter wannabe asked.

Hermione glared at her for a second. The question implied that while her two best friends were out there catching criminals, she was just lounging around. She would have snapped at the girl if Ron did not answer for her.

"She's studying to be a medical researcher at St. Mungo's Hospital."

"Hermione! Ron! You two broke up in less than a year ago. How are you guys still friends."

Here it was, the question she knew that was coming.

"We would always be good friends," Ron said.

"We've been through too much to let a little awkwardness get between us," Hermione said.

"But don't you get jealous of Ron's new girlfriend?" The reporter pressed.

"Lavender and I spent some time together at the Weasley household and we get along pretty well. In fact, we got ready together for tonight."

They endured a couple more questions before it became clear that they were just making up random questions on the spot. Ron became their savior when he made an excuse about meeting with his family while Harry and Hermione followed along.

While the paparazzi wanted to make them reveal something scandalous and nefarious, their lack of questions and the trio's determination to get out of there forced the reporters to turn their attention to somewhere else.

"Harry! Ron! You two look very handsome." Molly gushed.

"Thank you, Mum," Ron said.

"Thanks Molly," Harry said.

He took his position beside Ginny who was wearing a cherry red dress robe that flattered her hair.

"Oh and Hermione, you look absolutely gorgeous." Molly complimented. "You just kept looking better every day. Just watch, by the end of the month, your knight in shining armor would sweep over and take you away."

Hermione thanked her though she knew that it was unlikely.

The event organizers seated Harry, Ron, and Hermione right before the stage, nearby the dance floor while the event organizers placed the Weasley family in the same area.

On each table seat was a menu. From the look of it, whoever picked the menu was torn between giving the guests comfort food and something healthy to the east so they gave them both.

_Appetizers_

Kale, mushroom, and ricotta calzones

Spinach, Artichoke, and Bacon stuffed soft pretzels

_Main_

Garlicky Kale and Bacon pizza

Fettucini Alfredo with Spinach

Marinated flank steak with Lemony Arugula and Feta Salad

Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Chickpeas

_Dessert_

Tomato Cherry Ice cream

Chocolate avocado pudding,

Hermione picked the soft pretzels, steak arugula and feta salad and the chocolate pudding. As Hermione suspected, their food magically arrived at them as soon as they placed the order. The food was great, but it was a mouthful to order.

An hour after the ball started, the golden trio gave their speech thanking all of those who attended the event, the donors, and for those who bid at the silent auction which none of the three even glanced at.

With the dinner and speech finished, the topmost Ministry officials danced with their spouses encouraging everybody else to do the same. The song was slow and melodic, perfect for couples who wanted to dance the waltz. Harry and Ginny headed toward the dance floor along with Ron and Lavender. Bill and Fleur asked Molly to watch over Victoire as they dance.

Hermione stayed behind, partly because she did not have a date with her and partly because she was not exactly looking forward to dancing alone in high heels. Especially to a song that was clearly meant for couples. She preferred to sit and watch.

Hermione recognized very few classmates around the ballroom. And from the very few she potted, all of them were purebloods. Former Hufflepuff Ernie Macmillan danced with Hannah Abbott. Neville Longbottom attended the event with his grandmother. Hermione imagined that Neville broke many hearts with that decision. After his awkward phase at Hogwarts, Neville turned out to be a very handsome young man. Along with his war-hero status, Neville was not short of admirers.

Their host, Theodore Nott, was simply standing around with some of his old Slytherin dorm mates. He was not engaged in their conversation, but it was clear that he was a part of it. They were all huddled together, finely dressed and all their noses were stuck in the air. None of them gave off a friendly atmosphere, making them a pretty isolated group.

Hermione knew that Malfoy attended the ball and it was very likely that he was chatting with his fellow Slytherins. Hermione's veela wanted to see him in his dress robes but Hermione's rational side told her that it was not a good idea to approach a group of people who made it perfectly clear that they do not want to be bothered.

"Hermione, dear. I barely get to talk to you one on one lately." Molly said as Victoire tried to keep her attention.

"That's alright Molly. We both have a lot of things on our hands lately."

"Yes, you are very busy right now aren't you? Do you even have time for friends?"

Hermione thought it was odd that Molly was questioning about her time management skills or her relationships but she answered her anyway.

"Harry and I have tea together every week to catch up. Ron and I, on the other hand, talk to each other during Sunday roast."

"Well, that's very nice," Molly said. "But do you have someone special in your life right now? A boy in your university or even perhaps out of it?"

That caught Hermione off guard. Hermione knew that Molly hoped that Charlie and she would get together but she did not think that she would be blatant about it.

"Hermione!" Fleur said right next to her. "Come. You should meet Monsieur Travers. He iz a British researcher, studying in France."

Hermione did not realize that the first song was finished but she was grateful for the opportunity to get away. With a quick apology to Molly, Hermione followed Fleur as they made their way across the ballroom.

"I'm sorry about Molly," Fleur said. "Zhe really wantz you and Charlie to get together zo that Charlie have a reazon to go back home more often."

"That's alright. I just hope that we could make it clear to her that Charlie and I are never going to be a thing."

"The bezt way to dizuade Molly iz to find your mate." Fleur said. "The iz a lot of men at this ball and one of them might be your mate."

Hermione kept quiet and let Fleur take her to Ginny who was chatting with a good-looking young man.

"Hermione! You should meet Benjy Williams. He is Puddlemore United's Seeker." Ginny said.

"Hello, nice to meet you," Hermione said, she shook her hand knowing both Ginny and Fleur was watching for a reaction.

"So this is the famous Hermione Granger." Benjy leered. "I heard about your intelligence but what they should tell people is how sexy you are."

Hermione pursed her lips. Ginny and Fleur noticed immediately and quickly looked around for another man to throw in Hermione's direction. Oliver Wood was nearby flirting with a pretty lady.

"Look, Hermione. It's our old housemate Oliver Wood." Ginny said

Oliver Wood's head snapped toward their direction.

"Did somebody call my name?" Oliver said.

"Hey, Oliver," Ginny said. "You remember Hermione? And this is my sister-in-law Fleur."

Oliver briefly shook Hermione's hand but he was clearly more interested in Fleur. Oliver was not at Hogwarts during the Tri-Wizard Tournament so it was understandable that he was dazzled by the part-veela. Hermione eyed Ginny and shook her head, which indicated that she felt nothing when they shook hands. After a brief introduction, Ginny quickly dismissed Oliver by introducing him to another pretty girl.

Fleur quickly introduced her to a businessman followed by a politician and family members of her classmates from Beauxbatons. Ginny introduced her to former housemates and Quidditch players. A few men insisted on dancing with the "stunning and brilliant Hermione Granger" which Hermione politely obliged despite her reluctance of dancing in high heels.

Fleur and Ginny must have introduced her to five dozen different men. Some were younger than her, and some were older. Some were important dignitaries from the continent while some were born and bred in the British Isles. Ginny even tried to introduce her to a recently married man who worked with her at the Quidditch League.

Shortly after each introduction, Hermione indicated that none of them was her mate. She felt grateful that her friends were working so hard. At the same time, she felt guilty that she was hiding the fact she already knew who her mate was. It almost made Hermione wish she did not have her mate dream so that their efforts were not wasted.

Halfway through the ball, Ginny and Fleur took a break from matchmaking and danced with their significant others. For her part, Hermione was very grateful that she could have time for herself. While she chatted and danced with important men and interesting men, her high heels made her feet ache. On top of that, the constant chatter made Hermione's throat sore.

Hermione would have returned to their table but she knew that Molly would start questioning her again if she had a special man friend. Hermione also knew that Victoire and Teddy would be there as well. As much as she loved Victoire and Teddy, she did not have the energy to keep up with little children right now.

Hermione dragged her tired feet toward the balcony where no one could bother her. She hid in the shadows and made sure that nobody was looking for her. Once she was sure that nobody was nearby, she took off her heels. There was no bench available so Hermione placed her heels beside her and massaged her feet while crouching.

After a while, Hermione's back started to hurt from crouching for so long. She did not feel like going back to the ball just yet nor did she felt like putting on her shoes. Instead, she pushed herself up so that she sat on top of the marble railings. Her feet dangled a couple of inches above the ground.

A delightful breeze flew by, and for a moment, she imagined what she might have looked. Her light salmon dress robes billowed against the wind while her hair stayed perfectly in place but still looked breezy. Thank you hair mousse.

The breeze carried a whiff of tobacco, which made Hermione scrunch up her nose. Disgusting. Who in their right mind would voluntarily ruin their lungs?

Hermione turned her head and saw the perpetrator. He was standing near the railings as he smoked his cigar. His gaze was focused on something far away. The bright light from the ball cast a bright light on his back. Hermione could only see his profile but Hermione could already tell who he was.

It was Draco Malfoy. Suddenly the cigar on his hand made him look cool, even mature. The act that disgusted her just a few seconds ago suddenly became attractive because of her stupid veela hormones.

Draco turned his head towards her. For a minute, Hermione wondered if there was anyone behind her. She even turned around and checked. When she looked back at him again, he was smirking. He was definitely watching her.

Hermione felt self-conscious under his gaze. This was completely different from earlier last week when he just passed her by as if she was invisible. Now he was openly looking at her. Though she could not see his eyes, she felt him judging her. Did he even recognize her? She did present a speech earlier, so there was a pretty big chance that he knew who she was.

"Well if it isn't the 'brilliant and stunning Hermione Granger.'" Draco said.

Hermione tensed. She sensed that he was about to say something but he took a puff from his cigar instead. She waited patiently for what he wanted to say.

"How are you?"

His tone was neither friendly nor condescending. It frustrated Hermione.

There was a pregnant pause where neither of them did anything. She realized that he was waiting for an answer.

"I'm good. I'm just trying to have a moment for myself. How about you? How have you been?" Hermione said out of politeness.

"I'm doing alright, considering"

Considering what, he never said. Instead, he puffed on his cigar again.

"So, how does it feel?" Malfoy asked cryptically.

"Feel like what?"

"To be the media's darling. It must feel amazing, a group of people following you around like puppies"

At this point, Hermione could already tell that she did not like how this conversation was going. It seemed that after three years, Malfoy still displayed the wonderful trait of taking enjoyment out of annoying others.

"Annoying, irritating, pretentious, tiresome. Similar how you were back in our Hogwarts days."

Hermione expected him to be irritated. Instead, he gave her a smirk and said.

"Touché"


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione could not tell if Malfoy wanted to be friendly or if he wanted to be condescending towards her. Knowing Malfoy's past, he was trying to be condescending to her in the snidest way possible.

That was something she was not looking forward to the experience. On the other hand, Hermione's veela side was thoroughly enjoying the moment. Her heartbeat was fast. Her arousal was slowly increasing as they stare at each other in semi-darkness.

"So tell me why you're dangling on a balcony instead with your friends," Malfoy said. "I know that they are annoying as hell but there's no need to kill yourself over your stupid friends."

"We are on the ground floor, Malfoy." Hermione drawled. "I would have to be much higher for it to be a threat on my life."

He ignored her point and moved on to his next jab.

"Are you trying to run away instead? I would not do it if I were you. The woods around this place are far from friendly."

The woods did look scary at night. Hermione did not doubt that there would be dangerous creatures out there. It was a good thing that Hermione did not plan to go near it anytime soon. Instead of acknowledging anything his statement, Hermione fired back.

"Malfoy, " Hermione said. "I just want a place to sit down and rest my feet without getting bothered right now."

A nice, peaceful rest that he was a doing a great job disrupting in more than one level. Hermione felt torn between her head and her heart. Her head was annoyed by the banter but her heart, or her loins, wanted to strip him naked and have her wicked way with him. However, she would not tell him that.

"That's still avoiding your friends." Draco drawled. "Otherwise, you would be here with either Potty or Weasel or anyone of the dozens of people you came in with."

Hermione paused. She tried to figure out the right words to say.

"It was a bit stuffy inside." Hermione started carefully. "There are also a lot of people who I barely know trying to ask about my personal life."

That was a bit of a lie. The only ones who were trying to found out about her personal life were the reporters, particularly the ones from _Witch Weekly_. Hermione, Ginn, and Fleur made sure that they avoid the reporters even though in Fleur and Ginny's mind there was a chance that one of them was Hermione's mate.

Draco inhaled on his cigar. She could tell that there was a retort coming. She knew that she should leave now to avoid any confrontation but her veela side wanted to stay. Admittedly, she was curious as well. What made her veela side pick Malfoy as her mate in the first place?

"I'm surprised." Draco finally said. "The people I know who don't like the press snooping around are people who have something to hide."

He inhaled on his cigar and gave her a smirk.

"What could Gryffindor's perfect little princess be hiding?"

Hermione thought of her heritage. She thought of Anthony and of Charlie. Any of those secrets would give reporters many things to write for their next article. She was not eager to tell Malfoy about either of those secrets as well.

"Everybody has their secrets Malfoy," Hermione said, trying to sound blasé about it. "Mine are just my measurements and how much money I spend a year on Ben & Jerry's. That does not mean that I would tell the whole Wizarding world about it."

"Is Ben & Jerry's some sort of homosexual kink shop I don't know about?" Draco asked.

Hermione quirked an eyebrow.

"No. It's a muggle company that sells ice cream."

His smirk dropped slightly as if he was disappointed.

"I was hoping for something a little bit more interesting than that."

"I'm sorry that I'm not entertaining enough for you Malfoy," Hermione said. "Maybe you should go back to your Slytherin friends. I'm sure that you would find their presence more satisfying."

"No thanks. I would rather not spend my night glaring and gossiping about the people around me. Especially when there are a lot of ears on the wall."

Hermione had no reply for that. It would seem that the Slytherins were gossiping about people around the room. An activity, she was sure, that would lead to more enemies than friends.

Malfoy's group of friends were not exactly popular since the Battle at Hogwarts, especially Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

Many people did not like Malfoy because of his role in the Hogwarts's invasion. People were also upset with him with his role during the war. However, there were some people could empathize with the pureblood lordling and what he did during the war. No one approved of what Malfoy did, but even members of the Order agreed that his actions were understandable if they squint hard.

The press, however, has no love for Pansy Parkinson. Her only offense during the war was that she tried to get Hogwarts to give up Harry Potter to the Dark Lord. Unlike Malfoy however, nobody could empathize with her. Everybody was scared of the Dark Lord like she was but she miscalculated. She made too many enemies while Harry made too many friends. When she tried to convince the Hogwarts population to give up Harry Potter, the students at Hogwarts chose to protect Harry and stood against her.

Hermione was not particularly interested in how the press depicted Pansy. However, judging from the few headlines in the Daily Prophet's page six Hermione glanced through, Pansy was not the Prophet's favorite socialite.

There were rumors of her leaving men's apartments in early mornings followed by articles of her stalking one of Malfoy's girlfriends. Articles point out that Pansy was not offered a seat to organizations and charities the Parkinson family were a part of for generations. Moreover, when she was invited to functions and events, there was always a brief mention on how she misbehaved.

She had no doubts that Malfoy's friends talked about her behind her back. What surprised her was that Malfoy admitted that he wanted to distance himself from his friends because they were talking about people behind their back. An activity, Hermione remembered, that he really enjoyed while they were at Hogwarts.

"It's surprising." Malfoy started. "I would never expect someone who has a squeaky clean reputation like you would avoid the press."

"Maybe the reason I have a squeaky clean reputation is because I avoid the press." Hermione drawled.

Malfoy gave her a teasing smirk that made the butterflies in Hermione's stomach flutter.

"Still, you and Weasel over there broke up but you both managed to keep your reputations. Even after Weasel started hooking up with that tart."

Hermione was irritated with how Malfoy referred to Ron and Lavender but she did not comment on it. Instead, she chose to make a snide remark.

"I think it helped that no one gave any interviews with that bug Rita Skeeter and her followers. Don't you just hate when some ferret tell your personal business to the press?"

Malfoy smirked and inhaled on his cigar. No doubt, he knew she was referring to the time he gave an interview to Rita Skeeter about Hermione's relationship with Harry during her Fourth year.

"Hey, can you blame me? You and Potter were so close that everybody in Slytherin was surprised you end up getting together with Weasel instead of Potter." Malfoy said smirking. "I think the whole world was surprised when Potty got together with Weaselette while you end up with Weasel."

It felt odd to hear your mate pairing you up with other men. She felt oddly hurt and flattered at the same time.

Pursing her lips, Hermione replied by asking the first question that popped into her mind.

"How about you? You and Pansy were so close that I'm surprised that you guys aren't engaged right now."

Malfoy inhaled on his cigar but Hermione could tell that he was doing it to hide his grimace. The cigar was on its last leg. He threw his cigar across the balcony and lit up another cigar before he replied.

"Yeah, Pansy thought so too."

Malfoy did not elaborate, but Hermione suspected that there was more to the story. She kept quiet and soon enough the silence pushed Malfoy to tell her more.

"We were never really officially together back in Hogwarts. I consider her as a good friend and we had fun. She was a bit clingy and had a thing for leather, but we had fun." He never elaborated what fun meant but Hermione did not want to know.

"Pansy, on the other hand, thought that I would propose to her any minute back at Hogwarts and she still thinks that way." He inhaled on his newly lit cigar. "I try to tell her that I see her as a friend and nothing more she just laughs it off and told me that I'm just in denial. I even tried introducing her to my girlfriends but she just tells them that I am 'sowing my wild oats' with them and soon enough that I would propose to her."

"That's…. scary," Hermione said.

Hermione knew from their Hogwarts days that Parkinson could be very possessive with Malfoy but Hermione would never expect that that Pansy would say something so disrespectful and delusional. Who in their right mind would tell a woman that she would marry her boyfriend? The scariest part was Hermione could see herself doing the same thing.

She had bouts of jealousy every time she saw an article about Malfoy and his latest conquest. She always measured them up to see if they were better than she was. She always imagined that they were snotty and high maintenance when she never even met them. All of Malfoy's girls could be perfectly nice women.

Hermione hated to admit it but a part of her wanted to things to work out with Malfoy in the end. She entertained the thought that maybe; just maybe, Malfoy went up here to hit on her. He would ask her out on a date and she would say yes. Their first day would be somewhere casual, maybe a park or even in a quaint restaurant; somewhere people would barely blink to see the two of them together. Another date would follow their first date. The thought was foolish now that she really thought about it.

Malfoy went on and on about Pansy, though in between the lines she could tell that he was talking about his bachelorhood. He made it perfectly clear that he did not want to marry Pansy. He made it clear that he was enjoying his bachelorhood. He made it perfectly clear that he did not plan to marry anyone anytime soon. Not when he was seeing what the world could offer.

Malfoy found out that women were eager to date him because they all thought that they could be that one woman who would turn his life around. He recounted how one woman tried to make him fall in love with her by sending him gift after gift. Another one tried to be a mother figure to him. While another tried to take him to exotic places without realizing that he already went to everywhere she wanted to visit.

It was too much for Hermione to handle right now. Especially when he started detailing how girls were practically throwing themselves at him for his money, good looks, and bad boy image.

"Malfoy, while it's nice to see you drone on and on about your conquests, what do you want from me right now?"

Malfoy looked at her innocently. "What? Can't I talk to an old school mate?"

"We were hardly friends during school Malfoy. Why did you come to an occupied balcony when there are other unoccupied balconies around? Why did you disturb a perfectly good breeze with your disgusting cigar? Why are you here talking about your girl-"

Hermione paused. She sounded irrational and even… jealous. That really disturbed her.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you that way."

Malfoy chose to say nothing about it. Instead, he put out his cigar and leaned on the balcony only three feet away from where she was sitting.

"You know you could just get up and leave if my presence is bothering you so much," Malfoy said.

Hermione wanted to reply that maybe he should have taken the hint when she said that he should go back to his Slytherin friends but instead she chose to stay quiet.

They let the silence take over the conversation. Hermione turned away from him and tried to enjoy the silence as much as possible. It was odd, she felt serene just sitting on the railings with Malfoy standing right next to her. Normally she would worry about finishing her readings in class but at this very moment, she felt serene.

"I just realized," Malfoy said, destroying the moment. "I've been talking about my conquests but I haven't asked you about yours," Malfoy said. "I know that you and Weasel have been broken up for a while now. Do you have someone in your life right now?"

"No," Hermione said. It sounded a bit too quick for her liking but she was eager to go back to the serene silence instead of starting another verbal fight with him.

"No? Not even someone to play around with until Potty gets his act together and pursue you?"

"Why do you insist that Harry and I would get together?"

Malfoy gave her a knowing smirk. Hermione did not like what it implied.

"Come on, Granger. I'm trying to be friendly for once here." Malfoy said.

This made Hermione snort. He had a funny way of trying to be friendly with her.

"Fine, so I was hoping that I could ruffle your feathers when I saw it was you sitting on the balcony," Malfoy admitted. "But I think it's unfair that I talked about myself and my friends while you just sit there and snort at me. So what do you do these days?"

"I'm studying to be a medi-magic researcher at St. Mungo's," Hermione said.

Malfoy chuckled which Hermione replied with an inquisitively raised eyebrow.

"It just seemed so typical of what you would do," Malfoy said. "Bright, moralistic witch graduates Hogwarts and signs up in a very difficult course, either in medicine or in politics. She works hard, beats out everybody in the class, and makes the right connections. Said witch did all that hard work with the hopes of making the world a better place."

He said the last part with a mockingly dreamy voice.

"Oh shut it Malfoy," Hermione said. Her face was red with both anger and embarrassment.

"Oh come on Granger," Malfoy said. "Don't tell me that wasn't your plan when you signed up to St. Mungo's."

Hermione's blush was all the answer Malfoy needed.

"Let me guess, you already have a specific ailment in mind to cure when you signed up." Malfoy guessed.

Shyly, Hermione nodded.

"Typical," Malfoy muttered. He lit up a cigar, not caring if Hermione did not like to smell his smoke.

"At least I'm actually doing something in my life." Hermione piped up. "I don't see you doing anything productive since the war ended."

"I am doing something with my life," Malfoy said. "I'm enjoying it."

He inhaled on his cigar and let out a large puff of smoke.

"Granger, I think the most disturbing part about you is that the war didn't seem to affect you."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Malfoy interrupted her instead.

"The war seemed just nothing to you. You were just held back for a year then you went on with your life."

Hermione slid down the balcony and marched toward Malfoy.

"I don't understand where you got this crazy idea that the war didn't affect me Malfoy." Hermione hissed.

"Oh yeah? You still have all your friends and family. You are still pursuing the career that your dream job. You still have a sterling reputation. Heck, if anything, you are even more perfect now than ever before. You have an Order of Merlin while my father and I could barely walk down Diagon Alley without someone hissing at us."

Hermione realized that he was talking out of spite and jealousy. She knew that there was no winning this argument, so she let him say what he needed to say.

"Even though you're this insufferable, high-strung little outsider, everybody treats you like this perfect little princess. Why don't we change that?" Draco asked

He grabbed her arm and practically dragged her to toward the light where many people could see her. Making sure that her face was visible to anyone looking through the French windows, he placed a peck right on her lips.

The peck electrified Hermione. The peck was not even a half a second long but she felt energized. It felt like she drank a gallon of coffee. She felt like she could run a marathon. She felt like she could memorize all the magical properties of the ingredients inside Professor Oliver's cupboard while doing jumping jacks.

"Let's see if your reputation changes after tonight."

Hermione glared at him. He may be her mate, but he was still immature and vindictive.

She pushed him away, which Malfoy was all too happy to oblige. He left her alone at the balcony but Hermione already had enough fresh air. She walked toward her table where here friends were waving at her.

On her way, she spotted Malfoy with the beautiful woman who was eager to try if she could be that one woman who would turn his life around.

Hermione practically shook her head. Malfoy was an ass then, he was an ass now. No woman could change that.


	6. Chapter 6

The day after the Victory Ball, the _Daily Prophet_ , _Witch Weekly_ and even _the Quibbler_ all published stories about the Ministry's Victory ball. In fact, all the stories they published in those publications were about the Victory ball.

_The Daily Prophet's_ front-page story was about the Wizarding World coming together in order to help the poor orphans. It should be noted that the orphans was not mentioned in the paper for the rest of the newspaper.

_The Wizarding Home Monthly_ magazine, were already advertising that they would have a 12 page spread of the Nott household. Complete with an inspiration board created by the party planner. It included before pictures, preparations and the results.

While the newspapers generally mentioned who attended and who they came with, _Witch Weekly_ detailed everything happened that night. There was a section of who wore what dress. There was a list of the top ten best-dressed witches in the entire ball. Surprisingly Hermione made the list.

There was an entire four-page spread about the Golden Trio. One page was just a glossy picture of them standing together at the ball, perhaps while they were giving their mandatory interview. Though neither Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave them an interview, the article was written to give an impression that they did.

In the article, they wrote everything they could find about the three of them. The article talked about Ron and Hermione's breakup and Harry's possible engagement to Ginny. The article talked about what they have been doing in the past year.

There was also a little blurb about Hermione talking to an unknown blonde-haired man at the balcony. The only proof the blurb had was that the woman at the balcony had the same color dress robes as Hermione. This was all the proof that was needed because Hermione was the only person at the ball who was wearing light salmon dress robes.

That little blurb caused a lot of intrigue. Hermione Granger's mysterious blonde man led to many speculations coming from Rita Skeeter and other professional gossipmongers like her for the next week. Those who spotted the peck at the ball confirmed the rumor in their afternoon Tea Parties. Those who have too much time nothing else important to write about enjoyed figuring who might be Hermione Granger's mystery beau. Was it someone she knew from school? Was it one of the foreign diplomats from the continent?

The Wizarding public became amateur detectives while they tried to figure out who could have captured the war heroine's heart. The only clue was that he was blonde. However, transfiguring hair to look blonde was spell most people learned during their sixth year Charms class therefore the man could be a natural red head or even a brunette.

The rumors turned Hermione's week after the Victor Ball from exciting to exhausting.

Monday started out really nice. Hermione went to school, had her usual chat with Anthony and they made plans to study next week for their final test. They planned to lock themselves in the library after her teatime with Harry.

During teatime with Harry, he mentioned that he planned to propose to Ginny soon. Harry planned to ask her between now and Christmas. The news made Hermione squeal in excitement. He wanted to surprise her. He wanted to wait until the paparazzi stopped talking about a possible engagement before he propose to her.

Hermione agreed to come down to Gringotts with him on Friday when they both have most of the day off.

She spent her Tuesday studying with classes and studying for upcoming finals. She re-read her essays and made a couple of corrections. Overall, she had a busy day but she was happy to finish many things she wanted to do before the weekend.

Wednesday was when the letters start to arrive. It started out as a small note from Witch Weekly asking for an interview about her beau. Hermione rolled her eyes and dismissed the note. She was trying to be a medical researcher; she had no time to satisfy the curiosities of those who tried to live vicariously through her. Besides, she did not have a new beau to talk to them about.

She later found out what the hubbub was about through a patient she passed by on her way to her dorm. Two nosy old women were whispering amongst each other when she passed by.

"Excuse me." One of them said. "Are you that Granger girl? The famous mudblood who helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who?"

Hermione brushed off the derogatory term and nodded.

"Oh that's good. You see, my friend and I here are trying to figure out who your mysterious beau was during the Ministry's victory ball. Tell us, is he an old friend at Hogwarts or a businessman from the continent?"

Hermione blinked in surprise.

The two old biddies showed her an article in this week's Witch Weekly. And though it was only a little blurb, she could tell that the patients around her were eager for an answer.

She told them that it was an old friend at Hogwarts. No, there was nothing romantic about their encounter. It was just a peck goodbye the old friend thought would be funny to give her.

Hermione brushed of the incident as two old ladies with too much of their time nosing around on other people's business. Thursday was when she first realized how the little rumor had a big impact on her life.

Unlike Hogwarts, everybody at St. Mungo's was too busy with studying for the test or their patients to care for the latest celebrity gossip. Therefore, when a reporter confronted Hermione during her lunch break, it came as a big surprise. The man was asked to leave right away, which he complied because he was on the staff and student only part of the building.

It all went downhill on Friday when Hermione went out with Harry. Harry planned to check his family's vault to see if there were any rings in his family vault he could use as an engagement right. Hermione went along with him to Gringotts but they could not find anything that seemed appropriate as an engagement ring.

Harry and Hermione suspected that was the cause so they agreed to check out the Jewelry store at Diagon Alley. Hopefully, they might find something appropriate there. As a last resort, they plan to visit a muggle jewelry store.

Their plans were interrupted when a reporter came up to take pictures of them in the lobby of Gringotts for everyone to see. He was a confident ass. He had the hungry look in his eyes when he spotted Harry and Hermione.

"Harry Potter! Hermione Granger! What are you two doing at Gringotts?"

Harry stared at him in surprise while Hermione just glared at him.

"Well, I'm sure you two are just spending time together. It's nice to see that the two of you are still friends after all these years." The reporter chatted on. "Hey, since you two are such good friends, I'm sure that Harry Potter here knows who your mystery man. Right Ms. Granger? Mr. Potter?"

"Wha-" Harry gave him an odd look. While Hermione shook her head about the absurdity of it all.

"The blonde fella Hermione spent some time with during the Ministry's Victory Ball." The reporter explained. "Is he from the continent or is he from Britain? Can we get a name for the article?"

Despite the clearly curious expression Harry had, he tried his best to get out of Gringotts with Hermione. Ever since fourth grade, Harry learned that the best way to deal with annoying reporters was to ignore them.

Harry pointed at the small café near Gringotts but they were greeted with curious glances. Though the people at the small café tried to hide it, they could not help but point at them and look at them curiously.

With a quick tap on the shoulder, Harry indicated that they should leave the place. They mutually agreed that going in a jewelry store in the middle of Diagon alley would yield the same result and none of them were eager to go out to Muggle London without muggle cash. That would mean going back to Gringotts to exchange currency. By then it was almost time for them to go back to school and work.

"Well, this day was a bust," Hermione said.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "Maybe it's too soon to buy the ring anyway."

Hermione nodded. They made plans to go out to Muggle London to buy the ring later.

The weekend gave no relief for Hermione as the reports sent her multiple requests for an interview. Because St. Mungo's was public property, she avoided going out of her dorm room for the rest of the weekend. She only went out during meal times and if she needed something at the library.

On Sunday, she was obligated to go at the Weasley's weekly roast. She was too tired to transfigure an old dress that day so she put on the first one that caught her eye.

The Sunday roast was an awkward affair. The food was remarkable as always. There were still good conversations and some fun games but the atmosphere was significantly tenser. She could tell that the mysterious blonde man was an elephant in the room.

Molly seemed a bit disappointed with her for some reason. Fleur and Ginny on the other hand were eager to get her alone so they could talk about the mysterious blonde man she talked to at Nott's balcony. Once they did caught her on her own, Hermione quickly told them that the blonde man was not her mate. She told them that he was an old schoolmate who got too excited after seeing her.

Both women were disappointed at the thought and Hermione felt bad about lying to them. Nonetheless, she knew that it was the best course of action. The two of them would switch to matchmaker mode once they knew that the blonde man was indeed her mate. She still did not know how they would react if they know that Malfoy was her mate, but the last thing she wanted was for anyone to push her towards that vindictive, bitted ass.

While the Weasley family seized their curious glares once Hermione explained to them that she didn't have a mysterious beau, the press were still eager to feed the flames.

The next issue of _Witch Weekly_ published the eligible bachelors that could be Hermione's mysterious beau. While the publication suggested multiple men, the editors strongly suspected that it was Anthony Goldstein. After all, Goldstein was blonde, smart and he knew Hermione from Hogwarts. The editors also pointed out that Hermione and Anthony were lab partners and they spent a considerable amount of time together according to the students at St. Mungo's.

Molly told Hermione about the article that Sunday but she thought nothing would come of it. After all, Anthony was only one of the many suggested men in the article. But her hopes for a peaceful life were crushed when she entered her Restorative Medical Potions class a week after the Ministry's Victory ball.

Everybody was eyeing Hermione when she entered. During class, she spotted a couple of people watching how she and Anthony interacted with each other. Students who were busy studying for the finals a week ago were now focused on the latest gossip. Sadly, they were not the only ones who were watching her during class.

Apparently, the press heard that Anthony and she were in the same class that day therefore they sent a paparazzo to take pictures. The paparazzo tried to take a picture during class by trying to find the right angle to take a picture of them from the window. Thankfully, the professor closed the curtains. That did not stop the photographer from waiting outside their door to see if he could take a picture of Anthony and Hermione after class.

What was worse that Anthony was very gruff with her that morning. Usually they start the class greeting each other and asking what they did during the weekend. That day, Anthony barely even glanced at her. She could tell that he was in a bad mood therefore she chose to ignore it and she just hoped that it would not ruin their study session for the finals.

By the time Hermione arrived at Harry's office for their weekly tea, she was ready to rant.

"Why did we left Hogwarts Harry?" Hermione asked when she entered Harry's office.

"Because we were finished with our education"

"I know but the press didn't bother us at Hogwarts. Sure, we had letters from people we do not know telling us how to live our lives but we knew when those letters were coming."

Harry gave her a smile.

"Hard day in school?" Harry asked

"Yes," Hermione said.

"So I'm guessing you want to have chamomile tea while you tell me all about it?" Harry asked.

"You're an angel," Hermione said.

Hermione relayed to Harry what happened during the day. She told him about the increasingly aggressive press and how it was already affecting her relationships with her professor and her classmates, particularly Anthony.

"Is the press bothering Anthony?" Harry asked.

"The photographer tried to take his picture when we got out of class, but I don't know if they were bothering him or his family," Hermione said.

"So he's okay then?" Harry asked.

"I guess," Hermione said, sipping on her chamomile tea. "He was not really eager to talk to me today. He did not even confirm if we are still studying together tonight."

She tapped her on her mug nervously. She took a sip but the chamomile tea did not calm her down.

Harry tried to distract her with treats and a funny story on how a dunderhead messed up a mission. The newbie thought that the best way to gain respect from his colleagues was to act macho. He puffed his chest and even tried to intimidate the people they were trying to question. So much for good cop, bad cop.

Hermione responded appropriately to Harry's story. She nodded, asked the appropriate questions but she was clearly not engaged like the other times Harry tells her funny stories about his work.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm okay," Hermione said exasperatedly. "I'm sorry for not paying attention to you Harry. But finals are around the corner and I still need to compare notes with Anthony for some of our classes and I still don't know if he was going to talk to me."

"Is he mad at you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, no… I don't know." Hermione said.

Harry just stared at her.

"I don't know why the press is bothering Anthony when he wasn't even at the ball," Harry said.

"Yes! Exactly." Hermione perked up.

Maybe if she sent the letter pointing this out to the editors of Witch Weekly, they would leave Anthony alone and he would not be mad at her.

Harry nodded. "But what's odd to me is that you are very avoidant about the entire thing. Not only to the press but to the Weasleys as well."

Hermione immediately raked her brain for an excuse.

"That's because it's nothing, Harry," Hermione said flippantly. "An old classmates of ours from Hogwarts talked to me at the ball and gave me a kiss goodbye."

"That isn't the story you told Ginny." Harry pointed out. "You told her that the old classmate got overeager and kissed you goodbye."

"Oh come on Harry, he was overeager when he kissed me goodbye." Hermione tried her best.

"Furthermore, you keep referring to the guy at the balcony as 'an old classmate'. If it was just any old classmate, you would have called him by his name right now." Harry pointed out.

Hermione pursed her lips and contemplated on what to say next.

"Does it have something to do with the secret you share with Fleur and Ginny?" Harry asked seriously.

He sipped on his tea while Hermione stared at him with a scared expression.

"What makes you think that I have a secret with Fleur and Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I know because of the way Ginny and Fleur interact with each other. Ginny doesn't even like Fleur. She even used to call her 'phlegm' remember? They still do not get along from time to time. But whenever you are concerned, they always put that animosity behind them."

Hermione kept quiet.

"More than that, you guys act like you guys have a secret. Part of me was disappointed that you didn't talk to me about it since I am your best friend but I figured it's 'Girl Problems'."

Harry used air quotes to emphasize "Girl Problems" which almost made Hermione grin if she was not panicking.

"But I could see that it's bigger than that now. I'm your best friend Hermione, I could tell that you've been hiding a secret for a while now and it's catching up to you."

Hermione looked at him with a mixture of shame and love. He was absolutely right. He was her best friend and she should feel secure enough to tell him anything. So she did. She told him about her heritage while Harry sat down and listened to her intently. She told him about her problem figuring out which traits passed to her and which ones were not.

She told him how her heritage affected her decisions over the years. How she had to break up with Ron because he wanted to start a family while she was afraid to give it to him in fear of abandoning him and their children. How she refused to be involved in a serious relationship afterwards.

She also told him how she suddenly became more conscious of her appearances and so does others. How she became critical of what looked good on her and what did not. She credited a lot of her knowledge to Fleur and Ginny who helped guide her to all things girly.

"Blimey Hermione. That's pretty big." Harry said.

Hermione nodded. "I didn't want to tell you because I'm still confused about a lot of things. I learned a lot about myself this past couple of months but I'm there are still traits I'm unsure about."

"Blimey, is that why you wanted to become a medical researcher?"

Hermione nodded. "Muggles have been using genetics for a while now and slowly they are piecing together the Human Genome Project. However, the magical world still had not caught on. I want to start a Magical Genome project to see if we could isolate the alleles that make a person magical, if werewolves change genetics after they were bitten and to see what makes French Veelas different from Greek Veelas."

Hermione rambled on about what she imagined the Magical Genome Project could do. It was the first time Hermione ever told anybody about her dream because for some reason she thought that questions about her project would lead to more questions that would eventually lead to her secret. It was freeing to talk about it with Harry. And in kind, Harry listened intently and he even made a few suggestions that Hermione did not even thought of.

"I love that you're so passionate about this but this project is big," Harry said. "And I mean really big. It could take years, maybe even a century!"

Hermione smiled at him. "Yeah. I don't really expect to be alive to see it all finished but I hope that I could see a significant progress during my lifetime."

Harry sipped on his tea but he realized that it was already cold so he placed it back down.

"I think this project is brilliant." Harry said. "But what concerned me is that as you said, there's a fifty-fifty chance that you might die if you're not mated when you're thirty. And studying genetics and magical medicine takes time that you should be spending looking for your mate instead."

Hermione paused and looked down on the table.

"Hermione, I know that you love school and all but you need to be alive for a very long time to finish this project. Your studies could wait." Harry placed his hand over hers. He tried to look at her eyes but she avoided it.

"Unless… Hermione do you already know who's your mate?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head but she knows that he knows that she was lying.

"Hermione. I'm your best friend. I'm already upset that you told Ginny and Fleur about your heritage before you told me. Fleur! Hermione. You didn't even like her during her fourth year and you told her before you told me."

"Fine," Hermione conceded. "He's that ass Draco Malfoy."

Harry stared at her. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish.

"Does he know?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"I talked to him during the Victory ball and he was still the same ass when we were going to school. The last thing I wanted was to tell him that I'm actually a veela and he was my mate because I know that he would just laugh in my face."

Hermione magically warmed up the tea before pouring a cuppa for herself.

"Wow," Harry said. He magically warmed up his tea and took a sip. "So all along, he was the mysterious blonde?"

Hermione nodded.

"But doesn't that mean that he had some affection for you? Why don't you go talk to him to see if he wanted to date you?" Harry said encouragingly.

Hermione shook her head.

"That peck was not affectionate," Hermione said. "He knew that the best way to discredit a woman was to make her look like a slut. He was trying to tarnish my image, Harry. He said so himself."

"Bloody Hell," Harry said. "He is still an ass."

Harry stared into his cup.

"So what are you going to do now?"

Hermione shrugged.

"I already decided to carry on with my life," Hermione said. "I'm going to study hard in school, start the Magical Genome Project. If I'm going to die when I'm thirty, then so be it. That would just mean that I have eight years to work on my dream."


	7. Chapter 7

On four o'clock sharp, Hermione left Harry's office to meet Anthony for their study date.

She knew that chances were that he was still mad at her so, she bought Anthony's favorite sandwich from the small café across from St. Mungo's. She bought the same sandwich that he ordered every time they decided to skip the boring hospital food St. Mungo's serve to their students.

She knocked on the door and hoped that he would not slam it in her face. She was holding her breathe when he finally opened the door. He was dressed in a simple sweater and pajama bottoms, the standard uniform for all medi-wizard students. His eyes were heavy with tired though Hermione suspected it was because of studying.

"Hey." She started. "I brought your favorite sandwich to eat before we start studying."

Anthony did not skip a beat. He thanked Hermione, grabbed her offering and welcomed her to his room.

Their test was cumulative but thankfully Professor Oliver gave them a study guide that helped them streamline their studying. They tried to answer every question on it. Hermione even tried to write an essay for each question which made Anthony chuckle.

After they finished with their Restorative Medi-potion class, they tested each other for their Common Magical Maladies Diagnosis class, Hermione's favorite.

"A missing limb." Hermione tested him.

"Is it physically still there or is it completely gone?" Anthony asked.

"Physically still there."

"Vanishing sickness, very early stages. Caused by a bite of the Vanishing bug." Anthony answered correctly. "Irregular boils pattern, hard breathing, and vomiting."

"Ugh, hard breathing and vomiting? That sounds unpleasant." Hermione said.

"I know," Anthony smirked.

"Sounds like potion contamination caused by improperly cleaned cauldron," Hermione said.

"Arrgh, you just know that it's going to be on the test with how much they drill that motto into our head."

"A clean cauldron keeps potions from becoming poisons." They chorused which made the two of them smirk.

Hermione looked through her notes to look for a good question to ask Anthony but she was stopped by Anthony's tsk.

"It's getting pretty late," Anthony said nervously.

Hermione glanced at the clock and saw that it was barely past eight. Hermione had stayed in Anthony's place past twelve before and thought it was odd that he was worried about it.

"No. It's still pretty early and we still need to review a couple of maladies."

"Are you sure?"

Hermione gave him a confident nod. Hesitantly, she and Anthony went back to cramming as much information into their heads as possible.

By nine-thirty, Hermione already felt the headache coming in from too much studying. She stopped reading and stared into blank space, hoping that it would help with her headache. Anthony saw her and he started packing up.

"I guess it's time to call it a night huh?" Anthony asked.

Hermione gave him a tired smile. "Yeah, we hit a wall today. Do you want to have a coffee break?"

Anthony shook his head. "It's really getting late. You know what muggle neurologist said. We need that REM sleep to make sure that those neurons connect." Anthony said.

"Somebody's been reading my muggle psychology books." Hermione teased.

"Hey, it's really interesting. There's a few things I want to try out with some of the patients. Particularly, I want to try Operant Conditioning with those little kids who run around when the nurses need to check on their vital signs."

"Well, I guess I need to go to bed and make sure my neurons connect," Hermione said.

"Now get out of my dorm." Anthony said jokingly. "Get out before your boyfriend starts to ask why you're in another man's room so late."

The last statement surprised Hermione. Where could he possibly get that idea from?

"I don't have a boyfriend," Hermione stated.

Anthony's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh? Is it a secret relationship or something?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, it's not. I don't have a secret boyfriend. I just don't have a boyfriend period."

"Oh," Anthony said.

Only, it sounded like he understood something other than what Hermione said.

Hermione gathered her things and headed towards the door but she was stopped by Anthony.

"Hermione, can I take you out to dinner sometime?" Anthony said which surprised Hermione.

"Not anytime soon with the finals hanging over our heads." Anthony said immediately after he noticed the surprised look on Hermione's face. "How about after the finals? We could celebrate at the same time."

"Dinner sounds really nice Anthony," Hermione said. "Eating out with a friend after a week of finals sounds really lovely."

Anthony cringed.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't be a dinner between two friends." Anthony said with a nervous tone in his voice. "I was hoping that I could take you out on a date."

Hermione felt frozen in place. She had hoped that Anthony got the hint that she was not interested in seeing him as other than a friend.

"I'm really flattered, Anthony," Hermione said. "But I am not really looking for a relationship right now."

Anthony's face was the picture of disappointment and it pained Hermione to disappoint him.

"It's not that you're a really great guy Anthony," Hermione said. "You're ambitious, funny and really good looking but I am simply not looking for a relationship right now. "

Anthony frowned, though he hid it from her when he shook his head. "So in the meantime you're sticking with friends with benefits? It's just a bit surprising to me since you don't seem the type to settle anything less than relationship."

Instead of reprimanding him as Anthony expected, Hermione gave him a sad smile.

"I never thought that I would be the type of woman who settles for a friends-with-benefits relationship either. But life has a funny way of changing things."

Hermione turned around and was about to reach the door until Anthony stopped her yet again.

"Hermione, did something happen?" Anthony asked. "Is there a reason why you're settling with meaningless relationships? Was it something that happened between you and Ron?"

Anthony walked toward her and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. His beautiful blue eyes looked straight at her.

"You know that I'm your friend and that you could tell me anything right?"

Hermione looked at Anthony's pleading eyes. She felt guilty. Is that how he saw it? That she was just using him?

"No. Ron has nothing to do with it," Hermione said. "We broke up because we were going nowhere and I knew that he wanted to start a family as soon as possible."

Anthony did not reply. Instead, he looked at her inquisitively with his beautiful blue eyes.

"I just found out something about me and my family history that made me realize that getting into a deep relationship right now is not the best choice."

That was a lie. She knew it. He knew it. He knew she knew that he knew it.

"What did you found out?"

"I found out… that I'm a veela."

That came out easier than Hermione expected. She didn't expect to tell him her secret so openly. Perhaps it was because he already saw her naked. Or maybe her earlier encounter with Harry made it easier for her to tell somebody else.

Like Harry, Anthony looked surprised about the news.

"A what?" Anthony asked, bewildered.

"A veela. Semi-human, semi-magical humanoids that are closely related to Sirens." Hermione repeated the textbook description with disdain.

"Blimey Hermione. I didn't expect this." Anthony covered his face in disbelief. "I expected a bad breakup or wanting to focus on school but not this."

Now it was Hermione's turn to wait for his reply. She knew that he would have a lot of questions that she still didn't know if she felt comfortable talking about.

"Are you a Greek Veela?" Anthony asked. "Because you have the hair."

Hermione shook her head.

"I'm a mix. My paternal grandmother was half French-Veela while my maternal grandmother is half Greek-Veela."

"And you're past twenty-one right?" Anthony asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Did you have your mate dream yet?"

Hermione shook her head. Even though she told Harry who her mate was, she still didn't want Anthony to know. At least not yet.

"So that means that you would probably have to find your mate the Greek-Veela way." Anthony mused. "Was I a candidate?"

Hermione shook her head and Anthony sighed sadly.

"I know that you're probably looking for your mate out there," Anthony said. "But why don't we date anyway just to see how it turns out?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony you know we can't-"

"I know. I know." Anthony interrupted. "I know you would have to look for your mate out there. I'm not asking for an exclusive relationship here. I don't expect us to get married and live in a nice cottage in the countryside. I'm just asking for dinner."

"But you said earlier that I was scared of relationships."

"I know what I said earlier. But I never asked for a relationship. I just asked you for dinner." Anthony said. "A perfectly nice dinner from a guy who wants to date you. If you want, we could walk hand in hand later. Maybe we'll end up in your dorm room instead of mine."

Hermione shook her head in amused disbelief.

"We can't have a romantic relationship, Anthony," Hermione said plainly.

"And again, this is just dinner." Anthony said. "Most men don't expect to marry every woman they go on a date with. Most men just want to spend time with a beautiful woman. Then again, most men don't know if they were going to marry the woman they are dating with until much later on."

Despite his explanation, Hermione was not moved.

"We don't know if we're going to be fed up with each other two weeks from now." Anthony added. "Heck, maybe one of our patients would vomit acid all over me and I would melt into pudding."

This made Hermione chuckle.

"Why not just give this a chance?"

Despite his jovial tone, Anthony's eyes were pleading. She would hate to disappoint him, especially when he was just asking for one little date. But she just wanted to know one little thing before she agreed.

"Why are you taking such a huge risk with me?"

"Because I like you Hermione." Anthony said. "You're smart, beautiful and fun to be with. I really want to date you. And when a man really wants to pursue a woman, he lets nothing get in his way."

**June 12, 2002**

**Confirmed: Mystery Blonde at the Victory Ball Is Actually Anthony Goldstein**

Here at _Witch Weekly_ , we had multiple reports that war heroine and future healer Hermione Granger is indeed very close with the brilliant and handsome Anthony Goldstein. Readers who visited St. Mungo's in the past week spotted the cute couple around St. Mungo's.

At first Witch Weekly brushed off the reports as two friends working together but we recently had reports that the cute couple were spotted in Valentino's Italian restaurant at Diagon Alley.

The two Healers-in-Training were seen laughing and flirting together in the mid-range restaurant. As a Healer-in-Training, Mr. Goldstein must have dug deep to treat the very special lady.

Here at _Witch Weekly_ , we wish the couple good luck!

(Psst, Hermione. He's a keeper.)

**November 27, 2002**

**Former Death-Eater Dates Five Women in the Past Month**

_Former Death Eater Draco Malfoy was spotted dating five different witches in the past month. The man credited as a key figure at the invasion of Hogwarts quickly gained a reputation for his appetite for pureblood witches after the war._

_However, England seems to have ran out of pureblood witches to fill his appetite as he is now outsourcing his conquests to the continents. Earlier last month, the Malfoy heir was spotted with a hot Spanish Senorita by the South of France. A week later, he was spotted partying in the Greek Islands with a Greek princess. Five days after that, he was seen taking out a beautiful German beauty to London's Wizarding night scene. A week later he was shopping the streets of Paris with a beautiful French heiress. Finally, last Sunday he was spotted at a Farmer's Market in Italy with a dark haired beauty. Were they making homemade pasta together?_

_By the rate the young Malfoy is going, he is on his way to date every Pureblood family in Europe._

_We hope that the Malfoy heir finds his perfect princess fast._

_In the meantime, here at Witch Weekly would be crossing off every eligible bachelorette in Europe before Malfoy starts dating pureblood princesses in the Americas and Asia._

**April 30, 2003**

**Potter-Weasley Officially Engaged?!**

_Beautiful and intelligent Rita Skeeter was at Twilfitt and Tatting's to shop at their latest collection of shoes (might I recommend the cute black and white oxford shoes with pink bows) I spotted an old friend of mine. Long-time readers know that I have a close personal relationship with the Harry Potter and his friends after the Tri-wizard Tournament almost a decade ago._

_Ginny Weasley told me exclusively that her long-time boyfriend the one and only Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter finally proposed to her._

_The little Weasley explained to me that the proposal came as a complete surprise._

_"It was a beautiful." Ginny Weasley gushed. "It was so sudden. He came by my workplace and he asked if we could get some hot cocoa. We bought our cocoa and he suggested that we walk around a muggle park so we did._

_I thought nothing of it because we do this from time to time but he just proposed to me right by the muggle swings."_

_The happy couple would officially announce their betrothal to the public at an engagement party where I would be attending._

_Look forward to my exclusive coverage._

**May 3, 2003**

**The Golden Girl is Missing: Is the Golden Trio Broken up?**

_During the Annual Victory Ball last night, the Golden Trio surprised the Wizarding World when they arrived without Hermione Granger, reportedly the brains of the three._

_When asked where was the' Brainy Beauty', best friend Harry Potter and Ron Weasley replied that she was focusing on University. However, some suspect that it was because she was drifting away from her friends while other say that it meant she was distancing herself from the Wizarding World._

_However, the Daily Prophet doubts that story because Ms. Granger graduated from St. Mungo's Healer program a semester early._

_Ms. Granger's professors and classmates expected her to work as a Healer with several famous patients. However, Ms. Granger practically disappeared from the Wizarding World after receiving her degree._

_Nobody in the Wizarding public has seen Ms. Granger. Workers at the Ministry commented that she stopped attending her weekly tea with, best friend, Harry Potter._

_We here at the Daily Prophet theorize that Ms. Granger was simply taking a few months off before committing a the rest of her life to saving other people's._

_Wherever you are Ms. Granger, we wish you good luck._

**May 20, 2003**

**Former Death-Eater turned Playboy is in A Relationship with a Half-Blood**

_Over the past few years, Draco Malfoy, former Death Eater and heir to the Malfoy fortune gained a reputation as a serial playboy with a taste for pureblood princesses. As anyone who keep track of Witch Weekly knows that Mr. Malfoy dated multiple women from upstanding wizarding families over the years._

_Last weekend, Mr. Malfoy surprised even the biggest gossipmongers in town when he went out last night with Ms. Kasparian, a half-blood American._

_Is it possible that Mr. Malfoy was bored of pureblood princesses? Is he reaching out across the pond to find the perfect wife? Or could Mr. Malfoy be, as the Americans call it, "slumming it"?_

_We here at Witch Weekly are eager to see what is coming next for Mr. Malfoy._

**November 27, 2003**

**War Heroine Spotted with Boyfriend**

_Almost a year after Ms. Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin First class, disappeared from the Wizarding World, Ms. Granger was spotted at a Diagon Alley restaurant along with her Healer boyfriend Anthony Goldstein._

_A little birdie told us that even though this is the first time couple was seen out and about for a long time, the date was more about business than pleasure-_

Draco Malfoy flipped through the front page to make sure that his name showed up in this week's _Witch Weekly_ gossip roundup. Wanting to make sure that his latest conquest made it in.

Hopefully, the half-blood he dated this time helped with his and his family's reputation. She was pretty, but he knew a few half-bloods and purebloods who are prettier than her. That should give the impression that he actually cared about her even if she was a bit dull.

Last week he spent time with Janice….or was is Jessica? Anyway, he tried to have a nice cuppa with her at the newest Tea Shop in Diagon Alley only he ended up feeling drowsy after the first fifteen minutes.

He just hoped that not all of his work was for naught and it all depended on how Witch Weekly spun his date. Draco smiled upon reading the headline.

**Playboy Draco Malfoy out on a Date with Pretty Librarian**

Now it was for him to decide his next move. Would he take out the same girl again to confuse the press? Or would he ditch the boring librarian for someone more interesting?

It did not take long for Draco to summon his owl and pen a note inviting the boring librarian for another date this weekend. He made a note to bring a flask of espresso to bring along with him to keep him awake.

Finally, Draco could tell that public perception of him was changing. If dating a boring half-blood librarian was what it takes, then he would drink a hundred shots of espresso if he had to if not for one reason only. A reputation as a playboy was much better than a reputation as a Death Eater.


	8. Chapter 8

_We are Delighted to Announce the Engagement of_

_Harry James Potter &_

_Ginerva Molly Weasley_

_Please Join Us in Celebrating_

_Thursday, December 25, 2003_

_6:00 PM_

_At The Leaky Cauldron_

_London, England_

Hermione arrived at Leaky Cauldron at four o'clock sharp. Even though the Weasleys didn't ask her to help out, she wanted to. It would give her more time to spend time with them and chat with her old friends before all other guests arrive.

"Hermione! You came!" Ginny exclaimed when she spotted Hermione enter the old pub.

"Of course I came," Hermione said. "I wouldn't miss your engagement party for anything in the world."

"Good. I was afraid that we would have to kidnap you," Ginny said "George, Harry and Ron even had a plan if you didn't come by eight."

Hermione stepped inside the old pub where the last patrons of the day are finishing their drinks with Tom's encouragement.

"Come, the family is upstairs. We rented out a few rooms as a home base." Ginny said.

They climbed the ancient stairs where she saw most of the Weasley family running around. Molly directed everybody, Bill and George were on decorating crew and Andromeda was there taking care of Victoire and Teddy. Hermione could not see Harry or Ron but she bet that they were inside one of these rooms.

"Hermione!" Molly exclaimed upon seeing her. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too Molly." Hermione said, "I came a bit early to help out."

"Oh that's wonderful." Molly said. "Come help bring down the groceries. You'll find them down there, the door to the left."

Hermione walked to the room Molly pointed at and saw her best friends Harry and Ron trying to levitate all the bags of groceries, and failing. There were simply too many for two wizards to handle.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed when he spotted her.

"Harry!" Hermione excitedly said.

"Ron!" Ron exclaimed afterward, which made the three of them laugh.

They chatted and updated one another in each other's lives. Hermione told them how she started interning for a genetic researcher at King's College. Harry told them how he was quickly climbing through the ranks, but Ron, on the other hand, was hospitalized for a month because of a botched experiment in George's shop.

"We were trying to make safer fireworks for the kids at Hogwarts." Ron smirked, anticipating Hermione's reaction.

"Ron Weasley!" Hermione scolded, "You and George have left Hogwarts for years now yet you guys are still coming up with ways to disrupt the place."

"Hey, the students buy our explosives anyhow. We just want to make it safer for everybody." Ron explained.

"Why not stop selling explosive to school age children altogether?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, you talk like you didn't brew Polyjuice Potion during second year." Ron said. "If these kids want explosions, they would get it somehow, so we might as well make it safer for them."

Hermione had no reply to that.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione levitated the groceries in front of them downstairs. When they reached the ground floor, there were only two men left at the pub. One was eager to get on his way while the other one was trying to extend his stay as long as possible. He was probably curious to see what was going on tonight.

"Harry, Ron the groceries are supposed to be in the kitchen." Molly instructed. "George, Bill place the decorations on that table over there. Hermione and Fleur, can you both please help me out with cooking?"

Everybody did as they were told. The Weasley men started decorating the place by hanging banners and streamers under Ginny's instructions, adding more lamps to brighten up the place.

Hermione and Fleur helped Molly with food preparation for over a hundred guests. The pub's owner Tom already agreed to let them use the pots and pans. Though the Leaky Cauldron already served a variety of soups and pies, it would not be an engagement party without a few appetizers and a cake.

Molly immediately got started with baking a cake while Fleur and Hermione worked on making as many scotched eggs and mini sausage rolls as possible.

Thirty minutes before the party started, Hermione excused herself to make herself look presentable. She rushed upstairs towards one of the Weasley's rented room and changed her smelly top with an elegant blouse.

She checked herself in the mirror and found that her hair was messy and her eyes looked tired. She fixed her appearance with a few quick spells and she topped everything off with her favorite perfume.

When Hermione went back downstairs, the guests were already arriving. The sound of cheers and clanking pitchers filled the room. The pub was half-full with Harry and Ginny's friends and family from their school years as well as wizards and witches from the Ministry.

Hagrid was sitting in a booth drinking some Fire whiskey with Professor McGonagall, while Neville was nearby the fireplace chatting with Hannah Abbott. Andromeda arrived with Teddy who greeted everyone as they passed through a door.

"Mione! Mione!" Teddy said.

Teddy stopped right in front of Hermione, his smile reaching from ear to ear. The five-year-old's bright blue hair turned to the same curly chocolate locks that Hermione had.

"Where have you been? Why haven't I seen you for a really, really long time?" Teddy asked.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't play with you for a long time," Hermione said. "I was busy studying in a muggle university."

"Can't you play with me during the weekends? Why don't you join us every Sunday anymore? Don't you love us?"

"Of course I love you guys very much." Hermione said, emphasizing "very." "But I have other things I have to do and I can't come over and play with you all the time."

"Well can you play with me now?" Teddy asked.

"I'm sorry Teddy," Hermione said. "But I have to help out in the kitchen."

"I could help out with you," Teddy said. "That way you get finished faster and you could play with me sooner."

Without asking for permission, Teddy zoomed to the kitchen and Hermione followed.

The kitchen looked like a wreck but Molly was almost finished cooking. The cake was frosted, the soup was boiling over a stove and all Hermione had to do was bring the appetizers to the buffet table.

"Hermione, can I have one?" Teddy asked, pointing at the sausage rolls Hermione made earlier.

"Sure sweetheart," Hermione said.

She handed him a sausage roll, which made Teddy do an amusing little dance.

Hermione grabbed a tray to place on the buffet table on her way out, the cute munchkin following as he munched on his sausage roll.

"Now can we play?" Teddy asked once Hermione put the plate down.

"Sure, let's find a nice spot too-"

"Hermione!" Dean Thomas called out.

"Dean! It's been so long." Hermione hugged her old housemate.

"Where have you been? The newspaper told us that you basically disappeared." Dean asked.

"No, I was just going to school in the muggle world," Hermione explained.

"Now you're just coming up with ways to stay in school. Seamus, can you believe her?" Dean said towards the Irish man chatting with Harry's friends from the Auror Department.

"She got a degree in St. Mungo's and now she's going back to the muggle world to study." Dean finished.

"Bloody hell Hermione," Seamus said. "I'm surprised that big brain of yours doesn't already know everything."

"You'd be amazed at how much muggles research," Hermione said.

"I heard muggles made great lengths studying genies," Luna said dreamily.

"Hey Luna, it's so good to see you," Hermione said.

Right next to her, Teddy squirmed. Hermione held his hand in order to calm him down but it only made him pout in response.

"It's good to see you too," Luna said. "I was a bit worried that Fudge's Helipaths got to you."

"Luna, there is no such thing as a Heliopath."

"Yes, there is. Cornelius Fudge used them to protect him and his family during the war."

Before Hermione could reply, Teddy let go of her hand rather forcefully.

"Teddy-"

"Charlie!" Teddy exclaimed.

He zoomed towards the door where Charlie Weasley was chatting with his mother.

"Hello, there little guy," Charlie said. "What's up?"

"Aunty Hermione won't play with me," Teddy whined.

Hermione's face reddened in embarrassment as people around her stared.

Charlie lifted Teddy to his shoulders and walked towards Hermione. A playful grin plastered on his face.

"Was Aunty-Hermione mean to you?" Charlie asked.

Teddy nodded vigorously.

"I barely see Aunty Hermione anymore and she's too busy talking to all her other friends to pay attention to me." Teddy whined. "She could meet her friends other times. But I could only see her some times."

"Aww… poor baby." Charlie said. He wiped away Teddy's small tears. "Do you want to spend time with me instead? I barely see you too."

"But you're barely in England." Teddy pointed out. "You live far away. There are other people who wants to talk to you too."

"Well, I want to play with you," Charlie said. "In fact, I brought a bunch of dragon figurines just for you."

Teddy's pouty face turned to bright and smiling.

Charlie carried Teddy to a little corner where Andromeda could watch the two of them play.

"Ohh… you just made a little boy cry." Seamus said.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed one pitcher of butterbeer. On the corner of her eye, she saw a line of people congratulating Harry and Ginny, which made her realize she had not done so. She made her way towards them but she was stopped by a comfortingly deep voice.

"Hermione! It's good to see that you are doing well."

"Hello there King-I mean Minister," Hermione said, greeting the old friend.

"Now, now. We're with friends. You could just call me Kingsley." He said, "Now tell me how you've been."

"I've been doing well," Hermione said. "Just a little busy with schoolwork and all."

"Ah, a little birdie told me that the reason you went back to school to a muggle university was because you thought that our facilities at St. Mungo's are lacking."

Hermione did not have to guess who the little birdie was. Though she preferred it if Harry kept his mouth shut, she confirmed Kingsley's suspicions.

"Well, I would love to hear about it sometime," Kingsley said.

"Really?" Hermione said gob smacked.

"Yes. I would love to hear what muggles know that we do not. Why don't you schedule a meeting with my assistant? Sometime before you have to go back to school?"

"Yes, of course, Min-err… Kingsley." Hermione said.

Hermione took out a planner from her tiny purse and wrote a little note to schedule an appointment with the Minister. She quickly put away her planner and walked toward the happy couple but she stopped when she realized who was greeting them.

Draco Malfoy arrived dressed in sleek wizard robes and his nose slight turned upright. Right beside him was a tall pretty brunette. She had a bored look on her eyes and a stick-thin figure. She reminded Hermione of a supermodel in a catwalk.

Many guests whispered amongst each other when they saw Malfoy and his date passed them by but they paid them no mind.

"Potter." Malfoy greeted. "Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you, Malfoy," Harry said

"This is my date for tonight. Astoria." Malfoy said.

"From the Greengrass family," Astoria added. "One of the sacred Twenty-Eight."

Astoria was referring to the list of Twenty-Eight families who were "Truly Pureblood" according to the author of the book _Pure-Blood Directory_ Cantankerus Nott. Hermione read the book before and found it deplorable.

The fact that Astoria made sure to point out her heritage told Hermione that she had no accomplishments to call her own. In a room full of politicians, Aurors, and war heroes, Hermione suspected that a pureblood princess like her must have felt inadequate by comparison.

At least, Hermione hoped that was the case. The other, more probable reason was that she wanted to show off her heritage, being only the most sheltered and idiotic person in the world who would show off their blood superiority at Harry Potter's engagement party.

Malfoy handed his gift to Harry and escorted his date to a quiet corner, ignoring the side-glances they received.

The only one who was oblivious to this was little Teddy Lupin who immediately ran up to the couple. He was no longer interested in playing with Hermione. Instead, he was interested in meeting the newcomers.

"Hi, I never met you two before but my name is Teddy." He said, introducing himself.

"Hello there Teddy." Astoria friendly said. "My name is Astoria and this is Draco."

"Hi," Teddy said. "Do you want some sausage rolls? Auntie Hermione just took out a new batch."

Hermione felt her cheeks redden when she felt Malfoy's gaze turned toward her. It was only for a brief second but felt her body turn red all over.

"Teddy." Andromeda scolded. "Don't disturb random strangers. Why don't you play with Victoire?"

"But Victoire is a baby." Teddy pouted. "She could barely count to ten."

Despite his protest, Andromeda dragged Teddy away from Draco and Astoria. She sat him down with Victoire who was playing with dolls.

Though there were people around her, Hermione's attention was the couple who just arrived despite her attempts to look away.

Hermione hated to admit it, but Astoria and Malfoy looked good together.

They both looked high-class. Regal even. The picture of upper-class pureblood society.

Hermione forced herself to look away and she spotted Charlie walking toward her.

"Hey Hermione," Charlie said. "Do you want to grab a drink with me?"

He handed her a pitcher of Fire whiskey, and she thanked him gratefully.

"I heard through the grapevine that you practically disappeared almost a year ago," Charlie said.

"Not really," Hermione replied. "I was just studying in a muggle university for a while."

"Busy, busy," Charlie said.

Hermione glanced at Malfoy and Astoria again. For a moment, Hermione wondered if Astoria was one of Malfoy's conquests that he was so proud about the last time they talked. However, she doubted it. He kept a respectable distance from her. He pretty much kept his hands to himself.

Does he have-?

Hermione shook her head. Even though there was a part of her that knew that this would happen, her veela side refused to admit it.

"Do you have a past with him?" Charlie asked.

"Hmm?"

"Do you have a past with the Malfoy kid over there?" Charlie asked again.

"No, why do you think that?"

"You were just looking at him intently," Charlie said. "I was wondering if you had something with him in the past. Perhaps recent?"

"No. I never had a relationship with him." Hermione repeated. "Not now, not ever."

"But you want to," Charlie said.

Hermione looked at the man in question then back at Charlie. She could not deny that she wanted to march over to Malfoy and claim him as hers. That seemed to be the case every time she saw him, heard about him or even saw his picture on the paper.

But she knew better than to give into her Veela urges. She knew that claiming a former Death Eater turned playboy would be a bad idea for so many reasons.

She did not feel like explaining all of those reasons to Charlie right then. However, she would very much enjoy doing something else with him.

"Maybe I just have an itch," Hermione told Charlie coyly.

Hermione had gone through over two years of avoiding Malfoy, she would not let close proximity cloud her judgment.

Hermione looked around and made sure that nobody was watching.

The party quickly formed little cliques. The only oddball was Harry who was chatting with Malfoy, probably to make sure that he and his date were comfortable.

The pub was full of old friends greeting one another and updating each other about their own lives. They would be too busy talking to each other to notice two people missing.

She leaned into Charlie's ear.

"Maybe you could help me scratch it," Hermione whispered.

Hermione made her way upstairs towards one of the Weasley's rented rooms. It was not ideal to borrow one of the Weasley's rooms for a quick shag but she needed this right now.

She carefully took her clothes and unbuttoned her blouse. She was not even halfway through her shirt before Charlie entered the room.

"Lay down on the bed," Hermione told him.

Charlie obliged. Hermione carefully folded her blouse and placed it on the chair nearby. She walked toward Charlie who was unbuttoning his shirt showing off his well-toned chest.

Hermione straddled his hips. Her fingers unbuttoned his trousers.

Charlie reached up to kiss her, which she returned in kind. Once she finished unbuttoning his trousers, she made quick work to unbutton hers as well.

Hermione usually enjoyed foreplay but she was not in the mood for it tonight. She rode Charlie as soon as her jeans were on the floor. She made sure that he hit that delicious spot that made her moan and whimper over and over again. Underneath her, Charlie hoarsely gave her words of encouragement.

On the corner of her eye, she noticed that the door was slightly ajar. She could tell from the shadows on the floor that there was someone watching them. The only defining characteristic was the familiar silver-blonde hair. _Malfoy._

How long was he watching? Did he follow her upstairs or did he stumble upon them?

Hermione expected that he would go back downstairs but he did not. He was just standing there, watching them.

Knowing that Malfoy was watching made Hermione ride Charlie harder, eager to give her mate a good show. Did he enjoy watching her? Did he felt aroused seeing her like this? Was he pleasuring himself at the sight of her riding another man?

Hermione imagined Malfoy entering the room. His breathing labored as he stroked himself. She imagined him forcefully pulling her away from Charlie and inserting himself into her. He would palm her breast with one hand and stroke her clit with another.

The last thought was enough to put her over the edge. Hermione felt a wave of pure pleasure took over her body and she fell to his sweaty well-toned chest.

Gently, Charlie flipped her over so that he was on top.

"I'm not done with you yet Mione," Charlie said hoarsely.

In one quick swoop, he placed her ankles over his shoulders and entered her again. The angle was new to her and it felt delicious. Each stroke grazed her clit and it was not long until Hermione reached her second orgasm. This time, Charlie reached his peak with her.

Hermione felt tired and deliciously sore but that did not stop her partner from massaging her right breast while suckling on her left one. All Hermione wanted to do was to lay there with a warm body to cuddle with.

The noise downstairs cruelly reminded her that she had social obligations to take care of.

Hermione sat up, which forced Charlie's mouth to detach from her taut nipple.

"Hmm… I was enjoying that." Charlie moaned.

"There is time for that later," Hermione said. "We need to get back to the party, your sister's engagement party I might add."

Charlie groaned in response.

Hermione got up and looked for her clothes. With great care, she dressed herself. She made sure that she looked well put together. She neither had a wrinkle on her clothes nor had she a hair out of place. The last thing she wanted was for her friends downstairs to get suspicious.

No, the very last thing she wanted was to give Rita Skeeter something to write about.

She knew that she should have waited until after the party but she really needed to releases some sexual energy. Maybe her veela hormones had a stronger effect than usual because her mate was nearby, or maybe she was losing self-control. Either way, she had to check on that later.

Once fully dressed, Hermione looked at the still-naked Charlie.

"Are you coming?" Hermione asked.

"Only if you stay with me for the rest of the party," Charlie said cheekily.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I barely know half of the guests here. And you're more beautiful than the other half."

Hermione was tempted to just leave him there but she knew that the Weasleys would be wondering where he was. She needed to give him a motivation.

"I'll go down first." Hermione said. "You have five minutes to get dressed and come back downstairs. Otherwise forget about talking to me for the rest of the party."

Hermione left Charlie without a second look. It might be cruel, but she needed to show him that she was serious.

Malfoy was not at the hall when she left the room. For a moment, she wondered if she imagined him watching her. After all, it was not the first time she imagined him as she pleasured herself either alone or with Anthony.

The party was on its last leg when she went back downstairs. Hermione could tell that there were guests who already left the party. Some guests looked tired and ready to head home but stayed behind out of politeness. There were also some people who had passed out drunk.

She waited quietly in the only unoccupied booth in the pub. She had a long day today, and she didn't really want to talk to anybody. She should go home, but she did say to Charlie that she would spend time with him until the party ended. Malfoy was sitting rather close to his date across the pub.

There goes Hermione's fantasy that he was watching her. Or that he was even remotely interested in what she was doing.

"You look tired," Charlie commented when he finally arrived downstairs.

"Two rounds of sex do that to some people," Hermione replied.

"See? We should have stayed upstairs."

"And waited until one of your family members bump into us butt naked?" Hermione asked. "You know your family rented that as a storage room for tonight. Any one of them could enter at any time."

"Touché." Charlie said, "So how have you been?"

"I've been good," Hermione replied.

However, that was a bit of a lie. Her eyes could not stop drifting towards Malfoy and his date. He was leaning in close towards her, his hand covered hers as he whispered in her ear.

Hermione felt something growing out of her back. It broke through her skin but the pain was nothing compared to her nose elongating into a beak. She could hear the cartilage on her nose crack. The skin toughened to a hard beak.

"Mione, are you okay?" Charlie asked.

But she couldn't hear him. All she though was the voice on her brain chanting Mione, Mione, mine. MINE.

The last thing Hermione remembered was lounging towards the couple as Malfoy kissed his date.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione woke up staring at St. Mungo's off-white walls. She could recognize the plain colored walls with unattractive ridges anywhere. From a distance, she could hear the chatter of nurses as they run down the hall. There was the faint noise of Christmas carols reminded her that it was Christmas. Or did it already pass?

Hermione groaned. She promised her parents that she would meet them for dinner. Their relationship was strained as it was ever since Hermione used a memory charm on them. Skipping out on Christmas would just break their heart.

"Good Morning Miss Granger."

Hermione turned her head to see where the voice came from to find one of her old professors. Hermione took one of Professor Hippocrates Smethwyck's classes as one of her requirements and she liked the class. He was a funny professor, though he always seemed distracted because he had to run St. Mungo's Dai Llewellyn Ward.

"Good morning Professor," Hermione said.

"Good morning to you too Ms. Granger." Professor Smethwyck said with a smirk.

"What happened?" Hermione groaned.

"You transformed into your veela form." Professor Smethwyck explained. "Gave everybody quite a scare might I add. Apparently, you attacked a couple during Harry Potter's party last night."

A deep unsettling feeling overwhelmed Hermione. The last thing Hermione remembered was watching Malfoy and his date. Her veela took control of her body-no. She transformed into a veela. She became irrationally violent in front of her friends and the worst part of all was that she had no control over her own body. She could have hurt someone she loved.

"Did I hurt anybody?" she asked. Her voice was filled with dread.

"No, thankfully you did not hurt anybody." Professor Smetswyck said in a comforting tone. "There was a lot of very capable people attending Mr. Potter's party. Intoxicated, yes, but very capable. They managed to stop you before you hurt anybody seriously. But you did damage some of the things at Leaky Cauldron."

Hermione groaned. She did not have room for her budget to replace any broken furniture.

"Don't worry about it. Nothing a few spells can't repair," he said.

Professor Smethwyck smiled in that grandfather manner that made her feel better. Hermione gave him the best smile she could muster.

"Now I know you don't want to spend your Christmas catching up with your old professor." He said. "Why don't we finish the paperwork so you could meet with your visitors upstairs?"

He asked her the standard Healer questions. How was she feeling? Horrible. Was she aching anywhere? Just her whole body. Has she transformed before? No. What triggered the transformation?

Hermione had no reply for the last one. How could she tell her former professor that she-no, her veela-was jealous?

"Is there anything you noticed that might trigger your veela getting angry?" Professor Smetwyck asked again.

Hermione shook her head.

"Miss Granger." Professor Smetwyck. "I may not be an expert in veelas but I know that veelas don't spontaneously transform. Let along your very first transformation."

Professor Smetwyck asked her about what happened in the party. How many people were there? Not many people. Were there any couples nearby? Quite a few. It was an engagement party on Christmas Eve, there were many affectionate people that day.

Professor Smetwyck read her information yet again. He seemed pensive, even contemplative.

"What are you thinking professor?" Hermione asked.

"I might be wrong here Ms. Granger but perhaps we found your mate." Professor Smetwyck said.

Hermione stiffened but she did not let the panicked feeling reach her face.

"I can't be a hundred percent certain about it but it is very possible that your mate is at that party. I highly suggest that you ask for the guest list and go over it."

"I'll make sure to do so Professor," Hermione said. "I'll ask Harry and Ginny for the guest list as soon as I see them."

"One more thing Ms. Granger." Professor Smethwyck said. "As a standard we checked through other problems and I noticed that you have early signs of fatigue.

Hermione groaned. Here we go again. Another lecture on how she was overworking herself. How she needed to scale back on her workload. That she was working herself too hard.

"I know that the Holidays could be a very stressful time for some people." Professor Smethwyck said which surprised Hermione.

Wait, no lecture on how she's overworking herself?

"It's more likely that your transformation pushed you over the top during these very stressful times." Professor Smethwyck hypothesized. "Just in case, we would like to keep you here for a couple of days for observation and to make sure that you rest."

Hermione opened her mouth to complain. She could not stay in bed during the holidays. She had people to see and presents to give. Not to mention all the things she still needed to do! She still needed to read her textbooks, write a proposal and present it to Kingsley.

What good was a couple of days of rest if she ended up worrying about everything she had to do?

"No buts Miss Granger." Professor Smethwyck said. "I am informing the nurses that you are under bed rest."

He left her room and told a nurse along the way to call Hermione's visitors.

As she sat alone in her hospital room, she listed through everything she needed to do. She had to meet up with her parents, read her textbooks for next semester, go over her proposal with the Minister and get a head start on the paper due in five months. She was so ingrosed with the list of things she still needed to do that she didn't realize that the Weasleys already came in.

"What are you thinking Hermione?" Ron asked.

"You know Hermione," George said in a teasing tone. "She's probably worried about that essay she needs to submit in six months."

Hermione blushed in embarrassment.

"It's only five months from now and I barely even cracked the book open," Hermione said which made the Weasleys smirk in amusement.

Ron was the first person to hug her and greet her Merry Christmas. George greeted her next followed by Bill, Fleur, Victoire, Percy and Charlie who showed no signs of awkwardness followed him. Molly greeted her in a manner that lacked her usual warmth but Arthur made up for her.

Ginny came up to her next. She hugged Hermione and whispered to her ear.

"Don't worry about mum." Ginny whispered. "She's just upset that you were hiding a secret from her."

"I'm really sorry about ruining your engagement party." Hermione told her.

"Don't worry about it." Ginny said. "I'm just happy that you are alright and nobody was hurt."

The last person who greeted her was Harry, which registered as odd for Hermione. He practically hid himself behind everybody else. Once Hermione did spot him, he had an apologetic look on his face.

"Hey, Hermione." Harry greeted.

Hermione greeted back.

"Well… the cat is out of the bag huh?" Harry said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"I think the cat is running around and hissing at everybody who would try to approach," Hermione said.

"Soo…" Ron said. "What exactly happened last night?"

"I guess it's time to tell you all," Hermione said.

She settled herself in a comfortable seating position. She had hoped that she had more time to tell them.

"I transformed into my veela form." She said.

None of them was surprised about the news. She guessed that they figured out her secret and had time to let the news sink in. Judging from the expectant stairs she received, Hermione could tell that they wanted her to elaborate.

Therefore she explained to them about her heritage. About her Greek veela and French veela ancestry that still confused her.

"Why didn't you tell us about your veela heritage earlier?" Molly asked.

"I just don't want to explain something I'm confused about," Hermione said. "I'm still discovering about my limits."

"Hey, Hermione," George said. "How does it feel to transform into a bird?"

"Horrible," Hermione said. "Imagine all of your bones breaking while scale-grow fixes it all at once."

Everyone winced at the thought.

"When are you getting out of the hospital?" Ron asked.

"In a couple of days," Hermione replied. "Healer Smethwyck said that I had signs of fatigue because it was my very first transformation. They are forcing me into bed rest."

"Well," Arthur said, drawing the attention of every one of the room. "Looks like we are celebrating Christmas in at St. Mungo's. Do you mind if we open our Christmas gifts in your room, Hermione?"

This news surprised Hermione.

"Wait, you guys haven't opened your Christmas gifts yet?" Hermione asked.

"Why of course," Molly said. Her tone hid a jumble of emotions she must feel right now. "We can't enjoy Christmas with you in a hospital bed."

Molly and Arthur took out the presents from a small red pouch that Hermione suspected was charmed with an undetectable extension charm. They distributed the presents including the ones Hermione sent over for them a few weeks ago.

For the most part, everybody received what he or she wanted for Christmas. Everybody got a new sweater from Molly. George gave away brand new products from his shop. Charlie gave away souvenirs from Romania. Percy gave every man a tie and every woman a gift card to Madam Malkin's. Hermione's gift was more practical. She gave everybody books.

As they opened their gifts, Hermione felt at home. The overwhelming sense family and belonging caused Hermione to tear up. The thought of family also reminded her of her parents.

"Oh, my gosh," Hermione said which surprised the Weasley clan. "I need to send an owl to my family. They don't know that I'm in the hospital and they're expecting me for lunch."

Hermione scrambled to find a piece of parchment, quill, and an inkwell. Thankfully, Percy always had office supplies with him for whatever reason.

"Do you want us to leave you alone while you write a note for your parents?" Molly asked.

Hermione gave her a thankful look as Molly ushered her family out the room.

She wrote a three-foot letter apologizing to her parents. She explained that she was at St. Mungo's , the wizard hospital. No, they did not need to worry about her and everything would be all right. She even asked to reschedule for New Year's Eve.

Once she finished her letter, Hermione called one of the nurses to send an owl to her. She knew that the hospital has a bunch of owls for emergency purposes. Hermione also knew that the staff members define the word "emergency" very loosely when it comes to those owls. All Hermione needed to tell the nurse was that the note was for her parents for them to send her letter.

The favor did not come without a price though. The nurse informed her that she needed to be in bed soon because of her mandatory bed rest. Despite her complaints, the nurse allowed Hermione five minutes to thank and say goodbye to the Weasley family.

* * *

The gentle caress on her cheek woke up Hermione. Her eyes fluttered open to see Anthony standing over her.

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty," Anthony said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone broke all my bones and healed them all at once," Hermione said.

She looked over Anthony's clothes. He was wearing his lime green Healer robes. His face showed the telltale signs of a new Healer, tired and stressed. His shoulders were slumped. He looked twice as horrible as the last time she saw him.

"They put you on duty? During Christmas evening?" She asked.

Anthony nodded.

"Yeah, people tend to be rowdy during the holidays and the ones with seniority wanted to spend time with their families. All the newbies have to help out." Anthony yawned. "I just finished a double shift so I'm heading home straight home after visiting you."

Anthony sat down on the chair right next to her bed. His eyes were heavy and Hermione could tell that he could pass out at any minute.

"This is the first time when all of the department heads were unavailable. It was kind of a mess." Anthony said.

"Kind of a mess?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Everybody just seemed lost. A big lot of the newbies don't know what to do without their supervisors."

He says "newbie" as if he was not one.

"Wait, Professor Smetwyck was just right here," Hermione said. "He's not with his family?"

Anthony scoffed.

"That poof. He came at nine o'clock in the morning as he found out that the 'famous Golden Trio' was in the hospital. He left as soon as he finished taking care of you and your guests. The man wouldn't even go near this place if you were not hospitalized."

Hermione knew that Anthony must feel frustrated about his role as a new Healer, one of the least respected Healers in the entire Hospital.

"Don't worry so much about it," Hermione said. "One day, he'll retire and you'll take over his office."

This made Anthony smile. Signs of tiredness disappeared if only for a moment.

"Not unless you start your own department." Anthony said. "I'll join your Magical Genetics Department as soon as you open it. Then I'll spend the rest of my life working as your very handsome assistant."

"That would not happen for a very long time." Hermione laughed. "Maybe I'll hire a younger, more handsome assistant instead."

"Cougar." Anthony teased.

He leaned over and pecked her lips.

"Fine. I'll be your co-founder instead." Anthony said. "You'll do all the work and I'm going to be the public face."

"Already giving yourself a promotion I see." Hermione said. "Fine then, your first job is to come with me to meet with the Minister. We're going to need his endorsement to attract investors for the research."

Anthony's teasing face turned to panicked one.

"You got a meeting with the Minister? How? You haven't even drawn up a proposal for the research yet." Anthony said in a panicked tone. "You haven't even finished your program in that muggle university. Do you even know what to do?"

Hermione chuckled at his panicked expression. He was no longer tired, instead, he was panicking about the thought of meeting with the minister.

"Relax," Hermione said. "I already drew up some drafts of the proposal so we do not have to worry about going in empty-handed. We really do not have to explain a lot of the technical stuff anyway. We just need to tickle his interest."

"Are you okay?" Anthony asked.

"I'm okay," Hermione answered. "Why?"

"You just seemed tired," Anthony said. "I'm tired because I have work. You shouldn't be tired since you are on holiday."

He walked toward the foot of her bed and grabbed the clipboard attached to it.

"Professor Smethwyck wrote down that you have signs of fatigue," Anthony said. "Do you know how tired you must be for the physical signs of fatigue to show up?"

Hermione blushed in embarrassment.

"I've been taking a lot of classes last semester," Hermione said. "On top of that, it was the Holiday season so I had to go gift shopping for everybody."

"If you're tired all the time, maybe we should meet up more often," Anthony said. "I could be your little study buddy and we could provide each other with some stress relief."

Anthony leaned over to give her a kiss but paused when he saw her frown.

"There's something I need to confess," Hermione said. "I slept with someone."

Anthony was not surprised about the news. Instead, he looked on alert. His body was stiff and his jaw was clenched.

"Was he your mate?" Anthony asked. "Or were you just relieving an itch."

Was he your mate? That was the question he asked whenever Hermione meets someone new. He was not being possessive by any means. He always introduced himself and he was always polite. It might be her imagination, but Anthony seemed to hold he breathe every time he asked the question.

Hermione cannot help but think that he was just bidding his time until she finds her mate.

"No," Hermione said. "He was not my mate. I just really need to relieve an itch yesterday."

Anthony relaxed and gave her a cheeky smirk.

"I kind of figured that you would take a second lover," Anthony confessed. "You may have noticed that your libido has been steadily increasing."

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed.

Anthony grabbed her clipboard yet again and pretended to flip through it.

"Yeah. You've been visiting me more often as time goes by. The only time it's slowed down was when you took that muggle class microbiology."

"Please don't tell me that you created a flow chart of every time I get horny."

Anthony hid his clipboard behind his back.

"You didn't," Hermione said accusingly.

Anthony backed away.

"Anthony!"

Hermione jumped up from her bed and tried to grab the clipboard from his hand. Anthony tried his best to keep the clipboard away from her. He raised his arm so that Hermione would have to stand on her toes to reach it.

"Am I interrupting something?" Draco Malfoy asked from the door.

Hermione and Anthony both jumped away from one another.

Hermione's heart beat faster when she saw him. He looked handsome in his impeccable black robes that contrast his pale complexion. Hermione felt haggard by comparison. Her lips were chapped, her hair was definitely a mess and she was wearing an unflattering hospital gown.

In embarrassment, Hermione retreated to her bed and tried to hide under the covers as much as possible.

"No, you weren't interrupting anything," Anthony replied to Malfoy. "I was about to leave."

"No Anthony." Hermione reached for his hand. "I want you to stay."

Anthony obliged and let Hermione held his hand. Anthony laced his fingers with hers. Hermione felt herself drawing comfort form Anthony's hands as she watched Malfoy walk toward the middle of the room.

"Is there something that I could help you with?" Hermione asked.

Malfoy's face was neutral, impassive even, as he spoke.

"I just want to see how you were," Malfoy said. "I heard that you would be hospitalized for a couple of days so I want to make sure that you're alright."

Hermione was no fool. She found it hard to believe that Malfoy would visit her in the hospital when they were never in amicable terms.

"I'm doing fine. Thank you for asking." Hermione said.

There was a pregnant pause where nobody knew what to say next.

"I was wondering." Malfoy starts. "If you would like to join me for lunch one of these days. We spent seven years at Hogwarts and even fought a war together. I just realized that we barely know each other."

Her veela wanted nothing more than to have lunch with him but her brain told her to be cautious.

"I don't think I would have time for that," Hermione said carefully.

She turned towards Anthony. With her eyes, she pleaded him to play along.

"We still need to write up a proposal to present the Minister," Hermione said.

"Yes." Anthony said reluctantly. "We still need to write up a formal proposal, plan out what we're going to say…"

"Oh, and I still need to read my textbooks." Hermione added.

"Read your textbooks?" Anthony said. "Hermione, there's still three more weeks until school starts."

"Exactly! Do you know how dry university-level science textbooks are? It takes me a day to read six hundred pages!"

Anthony laughed good-naturedly.

"Only you would think reading six hundred pages in a day as slow."

Malfoy looked between the two of them. His face was still impassive.

"Hermione, you said that you have a proposal for the Minister," Malfoy said in a clear tone.

"Yes." Hermione said with the same careful tone she used on him before. "It's a research project I wanted to start. I hope that I could get the Minister's endorsement so I could attract sponsors."

"Can I take a look at this proposal of yours?" Malfoy said. "I might want to sponsor in it."

"No. I don't think that you would like to do that." Hermione said. "It's a research project that is very likely to take a lot of money and a lot of time."

Anthony squeezed her hand. She could tell he wanted her to go easy on a potential sponsor but she did not care. She did not want to end up reporting to him.

"There were also a lot of technical things we need to iron out. Many of the equipment we would need are muggle. I'm not sure if you would want to support a research project that use muggle technology."

"And why would I not support a research that would use muggle technology?" Malfoy asked.

His voice was aloof and it irritated Hermione.

"Because… because of your history." Hermione said carefully.

"Hey don't be mean to the guy." Anthony chastised.

Hermione blushed in embarrassment. She should not have hinted at the war but Malfoy was the one who brought it up earlier. Besides, its better that she told him-and all of her potential sponsors-right away that she intends to use muggle technology.

"How about I offer you a proposal instead." Malfoy said. "Before you finish drafting your proposal, I would go over it and discuss how much money you would need to purchase muggle equipment. I could even look for a facility that could run…whatever it is that make muggle technology run. That way, your proposal would be more attractive to sponsors and investors."

Both Hermione and Anthony were gob smacked.

"Wow. That's very generous of you Malfoy." Anthony said.

"Too generous in fact." Hermione said. She looked straight at Malfoy's gray eyes. "I can't in good conscience take a large amount of money from someone who doesn't even know what they are paying for."

Malfoy shrugged as if what he offered them was no big deal.

"It's the least that I could do since I'm practically the one who sent you to the hospital." Malfoy said.

There was a pregnant pause between the three of them. Hermione could tell that Anthony was eyeing the two of them suspiciously but she did not care. What did Malfoy want from her? He clearly was not here to see if she was okay. And she must be stupid to believe that anyone-let along Malfoy-would readily agree to finance her dream without even looking at a proposal.

Whatever it Malfoy wanted, Hermione knew that Malfoy would not tell her while there was an audience.

"Anthony, can you please leave the room? I would like to talk to Malfoy in private." Hermione said primly.

Reluctantly, Anthony did as Hermione requested.

"Now that your little boy-toy is gone." Malfoy drawled as soon as the door closed. "We could get to business.

"Okay then." Hermione said.

She points at the chair right next to her. Malfoy came forward and sat on the indicated seat.

"What do you want from me?" Hermione asked.

"I just want to know one thing." Draco said. "When are you planning to tell me that I'm your mate?"


	10. Chapter 10

"When were you planning to tell me that I'm your mate?" Malfoy asked.

Hermione's heart was racing a hundred miles a minute and her mind was running much faster. But how did he…? Who? Of all the questions in the world, why did he asked that one?

Hermione had hoped that he never had a clue that she was a veela in the first place, let along that he was her mate. In less than in 24 hours, both of those hopes were gone.

Despite the jumbled emotions, Hermione tried to hide the panicked look on her face. She tried to copy Malfoy's calm demeanor. She straightened her face and made sure that her hands were not fumbling.

"Can I answer that question with another question?" Hermione asked. She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible. "What gave you the idea that my mate is you?"

"It's just a hunch." Malfoy said. "Call it a really strong feeling that I am your mate."

"Just a hunch?" Hermione repeated. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but you are not my mate."

Malfoy did not show any emotions but she could tell that he was weighing in what to say next.

"You know Granger, I noticed something very odd last night." Malfoy said. "I was flirting with my date and next thing I knew, a veela was lunging at us. Of course, I learned later on that the veela was you and it got me thinking. Why would you attack me and my date?"

He left the question hanging like an annoying itch Hermione had to scratch.

"I'm afraid I could not answer that," Hermione said. "I mentally blanked out from the pain. It was my first transformation and it was very painful as you could imagine."

"I have an idea," Malfoy said. "You saw my date and I flirting with each other and you got jealous. You saw your mate flirting with another woman so you transformed into a veela and attacked the two of us."

"That's a rather preposterous claim," Hermione said. "You are assuming that I noticed that you were flirting with your date in the first place."

"I know you were watching me," Malfoy said. "I could feel your eyes on me since I arrived."

Hermione allowed herself a moment to think. She needed to get away from this conversation as soon as possible.

"So you are telling me that you are my mate." Hermione said. "And your proof is that I tried to attack you and your date while I was in my veela form. According to you, I attacked you because I was jealous of the two of you and you just know this because you could feel my eyes on you the entire time?"

Hermione let the words sink in. She watched as Malfoy's impassive face gave way to a dubious expression as she hoped.

"I'm sorry Malfoy, but that sounds like a lot of assumptions to me." Hermione said. "Even you have to admit that you have to make a lot of logical leaps to end up with that conclusion."

Malfoy's jaw clenched. Hermione could practically feel his annoyance.

She knew he must feel like an idiot right now and she wanted nothing more than to tell him that he was right. However, she knew it was better this way.

"I know that I'm your mate." Malfoy said. His voice was laced with authority she never heard from him before.

"Do you have another reason to believe that you are my mate?" Hermione asked.

Malfoy shook his head.

"I just know," Malfoy said.

He sounded so confident and self-assured. How could he be so sure that he was her mate when he had no proof? Unless…

"Did somebody told you that I'm your mate?" Hermione said.

For the first time, Malfoy's eyes looked through her. She knew she hit the nail on the head. Hermione sighed. There was only one person who knew who her mate was.

"Did Harry told you that I'm your mate?"

For the first time, Malfoy looked through her instead directly at her face. It was all the proof she needed. Harry should watch his back the next time they meet. Hermione would cast at least five different curses at him. Or perhaps she could use him as a guinea pig for her experimental spells.

As much as she enjoys planning how to torture Harry Hermione needed to diffuse the situation.

Hermione made a show of rolling her eyes and shook her head. Just enough for Malfoy to notice, but not comical by any means.

"Oh, Harry." She said. "I'm so sorry he got you involved in this. Harry and I have this prank war going on for years. I guess he thought it would be funny if he told you that you are my mate."

She gave him the best apologetic look she could muster.

"A prank?" Malfoy repeated.

His face looked so confused that he looked like a lost little boy. It was adorable. Hermione had to stop herself from pinching his cheeks.

"Yes. I am so sorry about that. He must have thought that it would be funny to tell you that you are my mate after I transformed. He should not have you involved in our game. I would give Harry a stern talking to the next time I see him." Hermione said.

Malfoy's face was contemplative which made Hermione nervous and strangely excited.

"The funny thing is Potter told me that you are my mate before you transformed." Malfoy said. "He asked me to talk to him privately soon after I arrived and he explained to me everything."

Malfoy sat down on the seat adjacent to Hermione's bed. The proximity between him and her was both exciting and uncomfortable.

"This all happened before you transformed into a veela and attacked my date and I for flirting in front of you."

Malfoy's eyebrow rose ever so slightly, daring Hermione to explain that away. A dare Hermione was more than happy to accept.

"All that means is that Harry planned ahead." Hermione shrugged. "He might not have expected that I transformed later on in the party but that doesn't mean it was not a joke."

Hermione saw Malfoy twitch in annoyance.

"There is one more thing that is bothering me." Malfoy said. "Why would Saint Potter tell his best friend's secret? Let along to me of all people?"

Hermione raised her shoulders to indicate that she does not know.

"He might have thought it would be funnier if he could make you believe that you are my mate?" Hermione supplied.

Malfoy scoffed.

"I have another theory," Malfoy said.

"A hypothesis." Hermione corrected. "You have a hypothesis. A theory has repeated observation and testing and incorporates facts, laws, predictions, and tested hypotheses that are widely accepted. It's a common misnomer."

Malfoy stared at her blankly. Hermione bit her lip. As a scientist, it is one of pet peeves when people confuse hypothesis and thesis. Moreover, she was hoping that her statement would make him loose his train of thought.

"I have a _hypothesis_ " Malfoy said. "Potter knew that I am your mate for a while now and he has been waiting forever for you to tell me. He got impatient and took it upon himself to tell me your dirty little secret."

That was Hermione's guest but she was not going to tell Malfoy that.

"That's an interesting hypothesis but I like mine better," Hermione said.

Malfoy snarled and clenched his fist. His eyes burned with anger…no, irritation…no, passion. It was the first time Hermione saw him look so passionate. She was scared. She was excited.

"Don't play with me Granger." He said. "I know Potter was telling the truth. He even warned me that you would deny all allegations that I am your mate until the day you die. I want to know why."

She wanted to tell him why, at the same time she did not. She wanted to tell him that yes, what he said was true but she knew that it would only complicate things.

She looked on his face in defiance. In defiance of what, she was not sure. Nevertheless, her eyes were sucked into his gray eyes practically begging her for an answer.

She wondered what it would be like if she woke up staring into those eyes every day? To look at them as they made love?

"Well?" Malfoy asked. "When were you going to tell me that I am your mate?"

His voice broke her out of her reverie. His begging eyes now seemed expectant, pressuring her to give an answer.

Hermione sighed. It was time to switch gears.

"I'll humor you Malfoy." Hermione said. "Let's say that we live in a universe that you are my mate. What would you have done with that information?"

Malfoy's jaw clenched. It was his turn now to have no answers.

"Would you declare your undying love?" Hermione prodded. "Tell me that you admired me since way back when? Would you have whisked me off to live in a nice little cottage?"

Malfoy stared at her. He did not move a muscle.

Hermione could not tell what he was thinking and decided to push things further.

"If I said yes, you are my mate. Would we immediately start making a family?" Hermione asked.

Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Who said anything about starting a family?" he asked.

"Well, Veelas and their mates usually start a family. At the very least they have one child together." Hermione said as calmly as she could but she could not keep her voice from trebling. "It's not that unusual to think that I would start a family with my _actual_ mate once I found him."

"Could you please stop pretending that I am not your mate?" Malfoy asked. "It's starting to get really old."

"Why would I stop pretending that you are not my mate when you are not my mate?" Hermione said.

"Don't give me that bull crap," Malfoy said. "We both know that I am your mate."

"No, Malfoy. You are not." Hermione said firmly.

"I am no fool Granger." Malfoy said. "I knew it as when your eyes couldn't get your eyes off me while you were fucking that redheaded twat."

Hermione's mouth dropped. She thought that she only imagined him there when she was with Charlie. That was what made the moment so exciting. However, now that she knew it was really him there watching her, she felt embarrassed.

"If I say that you are not my mate, you are not my mate." Hermione said, her false bravado masked her nervous and embarrassed feelings. "Despite what you say, I refuse to believe that my mate would be someone with very little redeeming qualities like you."

"So is that your answer?" Malfoy growled. "You had no plans to tell me that I'm your mate because you think I have very little redeeming qualities?"

Malfoy stood up from his chair. His tall frame towered over Hermione.

"Well excuse me if I did not turn out to be the prince charming of your dreams Your Highness. However, that doesn't change the fact that I am your mate. Nor does it change the fact that you should have told me." Malfoy half-shouted to her.

There was knock on the door. Hermione and Draco both turned their heads when they heard the door open.

"Is there something going on here?" Anthony asked.

Rather than calming down, Anthony's presence made Malfoy even angrier.

"No, nothing is happening Anthony," Hermione said.

Malfoy glared at the intruder.

"Anthony Goldstein?" Malfoy asked before turning her head back to Hermione. "Are you fucking him too? Of course you are. I have read the headlines. You two have been dating for a while now."

Anthony's eyebrow furrowed.

"We're not dating," Anthony said.

Malfoy turned his head back towards Anthony. A devious smirk appeared on his face.

"Hey, Goldstein. Did you know that I caught your little girlfriend over here fucking another guy?"

Anthony's face was calm and confident as he replied.

"Yes. She told me. She tells me everything."

This only served to irritate Malfoy even further.

"Well. I hope you enjoy your little slut." Malfoy spat.

Anthony's eyes widen in surprise while Hermione's eyes started tearing up. Sensing her distress, Anthony rushed toward to Hermione's side. The motion was so quick that he practically pushed Malfoy away from her side.

"I think you should get out," Anthony said.

"What? You don't like it when I call your little girlfriend for what she is?" Malfoy taunted.

"Then what does that make you?" Anthony spat at him "I heard through the grapevine that you sleep with different women every week."

Malfoy's jaw clenched in anger, which only further scared Hermione. She wrapped her arms around Anthony. Her head was pressed against his chest while her face was turned towards Malfoy.

"Your presence is no longer welcome here," Anthony said. "Please leave now before I call security to take you out."

Though angry, Malfoy stiffly left the room.

"Was he your mate?" Anthony asked as soon as they were alone.

Hermione hugged him tighter, it was all the answer he needed.

Anthony wrapped his arms around Hermione. He let her press her face against his stomach, waiting for the tears to come out. He let her cry against his chest as he murmured to her that everything would be alright.

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in Blaise Zabini's living room later that evening. The room was grand and dour, as most rooms owned by former Slytherins tend to be. There were no Christmas lights, nor were there any Christmas decorations of any kind. The only sign of joy during a happy season came from the room's laughing owner.

"I swear Blaise if you don't stop laughing I will beat that pretty face of yours," Malfoy growled.

Try as he might, Blaise Zabini could not help but smile toothily which immediately turned to a deep, loud laugh.

"I said stop it," Draco growled.

"Okay, okay. Let me try." It only took a second before Blaise's serious expression turned to maniacal laughter.

Malfoy had the biggest urge to punch his dear old friend across the face.

"I'm sorry mate. I can't help it." Blaise grinned. "The story is just so hilarious. You know since I was a little child, my nonna told me that her mate is her perfect match."

Blaise reached the brandy in front of him and took a sip. He savored both the drink and his old friend's irritated expression.

"She knew that as soon as she touched him, that he was the one." Blaise continued. "She did absolutely everything in her power to be with my nonno. She asked around for his name, his address, what are his likes and dislikes. She practically begged my great-grandparents for a date with my nonno."

"While I enjoy listening to you recall how your grandparents' grand romance, what is your point?" Draco asked.

Blaise smirked that smug smirk that annoyed Malfoy ever since they met.

"Do you know how much self-control it takes for a veela to stop her instincts?" Blaise asked. "She have to control every bone on her body just to stop herself from tracking you down and shagging you senseless. I have to give the girl credit for self-control."

Draco gritted his teeth.

"I'm really happy that you found my situation hilarious." Draco drawled. "But I did not come over in the middle of the night so you could make fun of me."

Blaise shrugged.

"You knew I was going to make fun of you even before you step foot into my home," Blaise said. "What did you do after Potter told you about the know-it-all's little secret?"

"I followed her to the upstairs rooms at Leaky Cauldron," Draco said. "I walked around the rooms and I found her screwing one to Weaselbee's brothers."

Blaise guffawed as Malfoy's knuckles tightened until it was paper-white.

"Wait," Blaise said. "I thought I read an article about her seeing another bloke with a really fancy job."

Draco's tsked at the thought of that wanker.

"Yeah. He's a Healer at St. Mungo's." Draco said.

"Is she dating him at the same time she was screwing her best friend's brother?" Blaise said.

"Yeah, she's a little slut," Draco said.

Draco gulped down the rest of his brandy and poured himself some more. He raised the glass to Blaise in salute and finished it off with one gulp.

"So what do you plan on doing next?" Blaise asked.

"I'll have to go contact my family's lawyers," Draco said. "I have to see what the law says about veelas and their mates."

"Veelas have the right to request a private audience with their mate." Blaise recited. "Mates are not required to marry or make a family with the veela. On the other hand, no mate ever refused in history."

Draco raised his eyebrows at his friend.

"I have veela genes in me." Blaise shrugged. "It's always good to know any laws pertaining to that part of me just in case I have relative or an offspring that turns out to be a veela."

"Is there any laws pertaining to the rights of mates?" Draco asked.

"For the most part, none." Blaise said. "Technically, the mate has a right to refuse the veela's advances but nobody in history ever rejected a veela's advances before. Nor would they want to. Veelas and mates are usually meant for each other."

Blaise took a quick sip of his brandy as he watched Draco's eyes widen in surprise.

"What do you mean that veelas and mates are usually meant for each other?" Draco asked.

"I mean, veelas and mates are usually soul mates…in a sense." Blaise said.

He crossed and uncrossed his leg. He finished his brandy, got up to the cupboard, grab another bottle and poured himself some more brandy. All the while Draco squirmed in anticipation.

"My nonna explained it to me this way. In the entire world, there is one person who is perfect for you. Most wizards and witches never get the chance to know for sure whomever they married is the right person for them. Veelas are lucky because they get to know for sure who their anima gemella, their one true love… their soulmate."

Draco absentmindedly swirled his glass of brandy.

"Of course there are some drawbacks such as transforming into a giant bird," Blaise said. "You win some, you lose some."

Draco watched the burning flames as he finished his drink.

"This…soulmate business," Draco said absentmindedly. "Do people have multiple soulmates or do they have just one?"

"Usually it's just one person." Blaise said. "There are some cases when veelas have more than one mates but that is very rare and it usually ends with either someone dying or a threesome. Typically someone dying."

"How about wizards?" Draco said. "Do wizards get to have more than one soulmate?"

Blaise raised his shoulders indicating that he did not know.

"We could have one, we could have two or we could have none," Blaise said. "Wizards like us would never know."

Draco did not ask any more questions. Instead, he drank his brandy.

"Would you think the press believe it if I start dating Granger?" Draco asked after a while.

Blaise raised his eyebrows at him.

"You plan to turn Granger into one of your toys?" Blaise asked. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why not?" Malfoy asked. "She's the veela around in this situation. Her instincts would tell her that she needs me more than I need her. If I'm going to sleep with that mudblood slut I might as well boost my family's image along the way."

Blaise shook his head.

"You can't treat Granger like all the other mudbloods you used before," Blaise said. "She is a veela and you are her mate. If you are going to pursue her, you have to say goodbye to bachelorhood."


	11. Chapter 11

Draco Malfoy hired three different lawyers to assess the situation. It was difficult to find three different lawyers who specialized in Veela-Wizard relations but with his family's money and Blaise's family connection, Draco managed to track down the three best Veela lawyer in Europe.

Every single lawyer he hired agreed with Blaise, Hermione Granger was his soul mate. One of the lawyers he hired was baffled that he was talking to a lawyer instead of walking down an aisle with his undoubtedly gorgeous veela soulmate. He practically snorted at the idea.

It was not that Draco Malfoy never thought about marriage before. He was a pureblood after all, and one of the demands of pureblood society was dealing with expectations to marry a decent pureblood girl from a respectable family. Preferably, his future wife was a virgin. Hermione Granger, on the other hand, was a muggleborn whore.

While Draco had been dating many muggleborns lately, it was all to disassociate him from his Death Eater past. It did not mean that he would actually marry any of them. He still planned to marry a pureblood socialite as was expected of him.

The last thing he expected was….well this. He did not expect that he had a veela soulmate. He did not expect that his veela soulmate was Hermione Freaking Granger of all people. The last thing he expected was to find her screwing some other person when he went to follow her. He did not expect that she was dating another bloke who was accepting of her deviant lifestyle.

He told his lawyers about Hermione's relationship status and they all just waved it off as if it was no big deal. All of them just assumed that Granger would drop her beau to be with him, none of them even bothered to ask of Draco even wants to be with Granger in the first place. Draco visited Blaise afterwards in a sad attempt to find solidarity but he was not exactly sympathetic to his plights either.

"Veelas have a really high sex drive," Blaise explained. "Greek Veelas usually play around the field until they meet their mate. My nonna must have five different lovers before she found my nonno. Now that I thought about it, Hermione had the same hair as my nonna when she was younger. I should have known that she was one back at Hogwarts now that I thought about it."

"We would deal with your inability to detect veelas later. Right now, I need to talk to you about what to do next."

"What is there to do next?" Blaise said in a matter-of-factly tone. "You either go get your soul mate or you sit here and whine about it."

"It's not that easy," Draco said. "Even if I want to marry Granger-which I don't because I barely know the chit-I can't exactly just go out and marry Granger and live happily ever after with her."

"What's not so easy? You know who your soul mate is. Do you know how lucky you are? I have to look around and date a bunch of women just to see if they are the right person for me. Even if I enjoy one girl's company and date her for a while, I'm not sure if the one I'm with really is my soul mate."

"Don't pretend that you're not enjoying it," Draco growled. "You make it sound like you're running around chasing every single person that walks around in a skirt as a chore when you just want to sleep with whoever you want."

Instead of refuting anything that he said, Blaise laughed off the accusation.

"You can't blame me for trying to make you feel better," Blaise said. "Come on, you have to admit that it's pretty convenient that you know who exactly you're supposed to be with."

"Yeah, convenient." Draco scoffed. "What would make this even more convenient if my soulmate is a pureblood from a respectable family. Or better yet, somebody I already had a decent relationship with."

"Hey, you never know." Blaise shrugged with a smile on his face. "You two have not even talked to each other in a while. You two might have more in common than you thought."

Draco rolled his eyes. He doubted he had anything in common with Granger. What is there to talk with her about? _Hey, we hated each other for years but we should ignore it because your veela hormones said we would make a good couple._

"Hey, you two seemed to like to screw around with other people. That's one thing in common," Blaise said with a smirk.

Draco cringed at the observation, which only made Blaise smile even wider.

"You knew very well that I'm a serial dater out of necessity," Draco said.

"'Serial dater'? Don't you mean a playboy?" Blaise said.

"You are assuming that I actually enjoyed the company of the women I dated." Draco drawled.

"If you're dating a different woman every week and you're not even enjoying it, you are not doing it right," Blaise said.

"I've been dating mostly muggleborns lately," Draco said. "They were not exactly raised to learn the arts of conversation and seduction. Some of them were good lays, though."

Blaise rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Granger is the exception to the rule," Blaise said. "My nonna told me that her connection with my Nonno was like nothing else in the world. You two should hit it off quick. That is, one you two actually try to get to know each other."

"Talking about lack of class," Draco said, ignoring Blaise's advice. "Granger did not give me the courtesy to tell me that I'm her mate. I have to hear who my soulmate was from Potter of all people. She does not even have a good excuse for it. She said that 'I wouldn't have dropped everything just to be with her.'"

"Well, would you?" Blaise asked.

"Well... not now," Draco admitted, "Not when she hid something as important as this from me. She could not even be bothered to send me an owl or even tried to talk to me. Granger must be the most flippant veela in the world."

"Given her muggle background," Blaise said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she does not know the first thing what to do with a mate. Nobody is really around to tell her how it is."

"Don't give her any excuses," Draco said. "She should have told me some time after she found. She could have flooed, owled or even dropped by the Manor-"

"I thought she was tortured in your home-" onBlaise said but he was interrupted by Draco.

"There are a lot of ways to tell me what's going on but she chose to do nothing," Draco said. "She chose to live her life ignoring that I even existed and now every lawyer I hired expects me to drop everything and marry her as soon as possible? That's… that's laughable, ridiculous and I'm… furious right now."

Draco ended his rant and leaning back in his chair. Now that he said the word, Draco realizes that it was exactly how he felt. He felt furious about the entire situation.

He was furious at Granger for not telling him what was happening. He was furious at the fates, gods, goddesses or whatever or whoever it is that matches veelas with their mates. He was furious at himself for not watching his temper the last time he talked to Granger. Most of all, he was furious at Granger for having a perfect life without him.

He had felt helpless ever since the Dark Lord took over his ancestral home. At the time, his parents were in the middle of negotiating a marriage agreement for him and Pansy Parkinson. Their parents figured that since they were good friends, they would probably get along as husband and wife.

At the time, Draco did not mind. Pansy may not be the picture perfect of demure pureblood wife but he figured that it was better to marry someone he already knew instead of someone he did not.

Then the war came and went. The Malfoy family fell out of favor while Pansy Parkinson became the most undesirable bachelorette in England. Her outspoken suggestion to sacrifice Harry Potter right before the Final Battle left no doubt where her loyalties laid once the light side took over and made her public enemy number one in amongst her peers. Pureblood society was equally as eager to cast Pansy adrift.

Narcissa Malfoy canceled the engagement when she noticed that Pansy started showing signs of a young Bellatrix Lestrange if Bellatrix Lestrange spent her teenage years in Azkaban instead of Hogwarts. While Draco's mother loved his rebellious and…eccentric aunt dearly, his mother preferred to have a debutant as a daughter-in-law.

Once his parents announced his un-engagement, Draco felt free for once in his life. His family was safe, he sure as hell was not going back to Hogwarts, and he had no responsibilities to fulfill. To say Draco went crazy for a while was an understatement and it was so easy to do so because women were practically throwing themselves at him.

At first, he did not know what caused his sudden popularity until he dated a brainy French heiress. She told him that women wanted to date him because he had a reputation as the bad boy. Apparently, it was a common fantasy for women to transform a bad boy to a family man. He played up that image and soon not even the prudes could deny him of what he wanted.

While the French heiress was smart enough not to expect a relationship with him, he still took advantage of the little tidbit she told him to sleep with whoever he wanted. He went through so many pureblood women that his father sat him down and told him he needed to sow his wild oats somewhere or else he ran the risk of chasing off every pureblood family in Europe.

The idea of sleeping with anyone less than a pureblood made him cringe for a while; he did so anyway so he could have a lot more options once he decides to settle down and start a family. Moreover, there was the added benefit that the press started to believe he was slowly falling in love with muggle culture. The more he fooled around with people below his status, more people believed that he had "reformed". It was a win-win on his book and Draco felt on top of the world.

He had not even thought about Granger for years until Potter mentioned her. As soon as Potter told him about Granger, he wanted to confront her, demand the truth straight from her mouth but instead, he found her screwing another guy.

She was so wild and free. It was a different side of Granger he never saw before. She was so sexy, and he knew she was putting on a show just for him. Draco's dick was so hard that he was tempted to stroke it in public as he imagined himself spending long weekends locked up in a room with her. He wanted her to ride him like there was no tomorrow.

He figured that if Granger were going to tease him that way, he would pay in kind by flirting with his mother-approved "date". He did not expect that Granger would turn into a bird. Draco would have laughed at her jealous behavior if he were not so scared. He later learned that she was dating somebody else and the two of them seemed to be committed to each other because they were looking for investors for a long-term project.

Draco's visit to Granger's hospital room only confirmed his suspicions that she neither wanted nor needed him in her perfect little life. It felt like a slap in the face and a punch in the gut at the same time. He could not understand why Granger would avoid him as if he had a bad case of dragon pox when she was clearly attractive to him.

"I could see that this is causing you a lot of stress," Blaise said. "As your friend, may I offer my services to talk to Granger for you?"

"No, the last thing that I would want is to talk to her right now," Draco decided. "Even by proxy."

Perhaps it was for the best. They could move on with their respective lives and pretend the last couple of days never happened.

"But you do have to talk to her at some point about this." Blaise said diplomatically. "You two are soul mates. You two would have to address this sooner or later."

"I prefer that I address this later." Draco said without any hint of doubt. "I don't want to see that slut right now."

Blaise leaned back against his opulent chair; his eye was squinting as if he just bit into a lemon. Draco could already sense that he was about to give him a lecture and sat up straighter like a good little school boy. Blaise rarely gave him a lecture; Blaise probably gave him two lectures the entire time they knew each other since the first years at Hogwarts and each time Draco had to hang his head in shame afterwards.

"You should stop calling her that." Blaise said. "I understand when you said it during Christmas but it's been days since then. Witches do not like it when somebody calls them a slut. This might come as a surprise to you but they find it demeaning, especially from a guy who had a different girlfriend every week, you bloody hypocrite."

"You're the one to talk." Draco growled. "You are far from the picture-perfect gentleman when you have just as many notches on your belt as I do."

Blaise shook his head.

"Just because I slept with as many women as you, it does not mean that you and I treat women the same," Blaise said. "Unlike you, women don't sleep with me because of my 'save me, I'm a fallen man' act. Women talk to me because they actually like talking to me and I treat them as human beings. I never treat them as notches on my belt and I never ever call a woman a slut. Half the reason why women sleep with me in the first place is that I treat them better than all the other guys they slept with.

"You are one of the lucky few people in this world who knows exactly their soulmate are. If you want to squander away your opportunity to be with the one person in the world that was made for you, that is fine for me. However, I am getting tired of listening to you calling her that just because she did not jump your broomstick, as you wanted her to. That poor veela already had a lot to deal with having you as her mate. She does not need you to call her a slut after you parade one woman after another for the entire world to see."

"Well if she doesn't want to be called a slut, then she shouldn't act like one," Draco huffed.

"She is her own woman, she could do whatever she wants to do," Blaise drawled. "Similar to how you are your own person."

Blaise looked at him with his piercing eyes. Draco could tell that he had a lot more to say and was just waiting to hear Draco's retort so Draco chose not to say anything else.

"I do hope you get over your little problem and try to talk to Granger sometime soon," Blaise said. "It would be a shame if you acted like an arse as Granger always thought you were."

Everybody knew that Granger and her entire crew of redheaded minions thought of him as an arse and Draco was not about to dispute his arseholishness. However, Blaise's wording implied a familiarity. Briefly, Draco wondered if Blaise was an agent of Granger's in a complicated game of seduction but decided against it because Blaise was not the type to get involved with anybody's love life. He also doubted that Granger and Blaise are close enough to learn about each other's parentage.

It lead Draco to conclude that Blaise's advice was out of genuine concern, in his own way, which only frustrated Draco because his so-called friend made it clear that he thinks Draco acted foolishly about the entire thing even if his responses were perfectly normal. Why can't Blaise just agree that Granger is the worst veela in the world? What kind of veela would just ignore their mate like that?

Then it occurred to Draco, the kind that does not have a very high opinion of their mate. Uppity Granger probably thought that she deserves someone better than him. Miss Not-So-Goody-goody probably wanted someone better than him, which only infuriated Draco.

The worst part of this realization was that Draco lost control over his emotions and acted like an arse towards Granger. Draco prided himself for mastering Occlumency at the age of sixteen and he did it because of his mastery of his emotions. He did not know what happened, but somehow Hermione Granger made him lose all that carefully crafted control.

Draco thanked Blaise for the talk and went home where he planned his next move. He really should do something about Granger's perception of him, Draco decided. If Granger was avoiding him because he was an arse, then the best revenge was to kill her with kindness, as cheesy as that may sound. No snarky remarks, no teasing, nothing but courtesy and charm his parents raised him with as a Pureblood. Any retaliation against Granger would serve as confirmation that she was right to avoid him like a plague. While any act of kindness would show how wrong Granger was.

One New Year's Eve, Draco bought a bouquet of white tulips and headed toward St. Mungo's to apologize to Hermione Granger. He hoped that the cheery occasion and the flowers would place Granger in a forgiving mood.

When Draco arrived in Granger's hospital room, he did not expect to find Anthony Goldstein was watching over Granger's sleeping form, which only irritated Draco. Was he always hanging around her? Wasn't he supposed to be busy somewhere else doing Healer stuff?

"Hermione is going to wake up any minute now," Goldstein growled. His face clearly showed suspicion. "I suggest that you leave. Hermione would not be happy to see you right now."

"I just came by to apologize to her." Draco said, showing him the bouquet of white tulips.

Goldstein still gave him a suspicious look, a vast difference compared to the last time he saw the man.

"I know I acted like an arse the last time I talked to her," Draco said. "That's why I wanted to come over and apologize."

"That's very nice of you Malfoy," Goldstein said. His face retained a hard look.

Draco crinkled his nose in response. What was his problem? Goldstein glared at him as Draco sat down beside Granger and patiently waited for her to wake up. Minutes went by and Goldstein never once let his eyes off Draco. Seriously, was not he supposed to be doing something else?

Draco focused his attention towards Granger instead. Draco never saw her so…still before. She was always so energetic, fiery about everything she did during their Hogwarts years. She was always busy doing something whether it was her homework of fighting You-Know-Who. It was odd to see her just lay unresponsively in a hospital bed.

He realized that her hair was no longer the bushy mess he remembered. Even as she lay on a hospital table, it was limp and lacked shine. Her skin was clear of any color. He tried to remember the last time he saw her almost a week ago, did she look as dead then as she did right now?

"Do you know what time she would wake up?" Draco said after it became clear that Granger would not wake up anytime soon. "I should go back here when she's actually awake."

"I don't know," Goldstein said. "A couple of hours? Days? Maybe next week? Her sleeping schedule has been dodgy and unpredictable at best since you last came. If you have somewhere else to be, it's best that you leave and come back at a much later date."

"Is she in dire condition?" Draco asked.

"No, thankfully," Goldstein said. "She just feels tired all the time and is in desperate need of bedrest."

"As a professional Healer," Draco said. "Can you tell me what her diagnosis is?"

"That information is reserved for family members and close friends." Goldstein said. "But you should be happy to know that she would feel a lot better if you're not around."

"I highly doubt that is the case seeing that her condition has worsened since I last saw her." Draco said as he gestured towards Hermione's sleeping form. "Perhaps my presence is exactly what she needs right now."

"I know you've been out of school for a couple of years Mr. Malfoy but you're confusing wishful thinking as a medical diagnosis Mr. Malfoy." Goldstein said.

Normally I would agree with you," Draco drawled. "However, seeing that Ms. Granger is a veela and I am her mate, it's not improbable that my mere presence could rejuvenate her from whatever ailment she's suffering."

Draco decided that he did not like Goldstein. The wanker was more a nuisance than a help to Draco right now and somebody needed to put him in his place.

"Excuse me if I found that notion laughable," Goldstein said. "There are no records of veelas healing simply because their mate is in the same room as them."

"Not according to the public veela accounts," Draco bluffed. "There are oral accounts of veela traditions and customs that are not on public record. I happen to know quite a few and I'm in contact with a couple of veela experts right now. Perhaps the reason such a renowned, experienced and accomplished Healer like you were having problems to treat her was because her malady was not common to those in the medical field."

"Perhaps." Goldstein said flippantly. "However, seeing that her condition significantly worsened right after your last visit, I have to say that your presence causes more distress than calm for Hermione."

"We just had a minor disagreement," Draco said. "Something that I intend of remedy as soon as Granger wakes up."

"'Minor disagreement'," Goldstein laughed. "Hermione avoided you for years. She strategically avoided you for years and even tried to kick you out when you tried to confront her. I'm sure she does not want to do anything about you. Even if you came here to apologize."

"What about you?" Draco asked. "You're always around her like a lost pup. Do you spend your time waiting for her to wake up when you come to work? Or do you peak into her room every chance you get to see if she woke up?"

"I did not know that concept of concern is not in your dictionary," Goldstein said with disdain "This is what serious partners do for each other. We watch out for each other. I'm sure that Hermione would do the same thing to me if I am in the same position as her."

Goldstein's harsh tone was really starting to irritate Draco. What was Goldstein's problem? Then Draco understood that Goldstein was looking at a bad copy of himself. Granger probably chose him because they had a vague physical similarity and Goldstein knew it.

"Are you sure about that?" Draco said. "From my perspective, Granger thinks that you are very disposable. She easily replaced you with one of the Weasley brothers for her own amusement. In fact, I do not think I saw you as her date during Potter's engagement party, or any important functions she attends. I would say that you are merely a placeholder for somebody better."

Namely me, he let the words hang over the head but Goldstein remained unfazed.

"Say what you want Malfoy," Goldstein said. "But at the end of the day, Hermione comes home with me. She is planning to start an entire field of magical medicine with me. I know her better than anyone else. So believe me when I say that she would not want to see you when she wakes up. While I appreciate that you are man enough to come over and apologize to Hermione, as a Healer at this hospital, I must humbly request you to get out from Ms. Granger's room as you are a stress trigger for her."

Draco glared at the man but chose not to retort. Instead, he left white tulips at the stand next to where he was sitting and wrote a quick note to Granger apologizing for what he had said and a half-hearted request to talk to each other face to face, simply because pureblood gentlemen are taught to apologize face to face.

On his way out St. Mungo's, he bumped into his old housemate Theodore Nott. Draco chatted with his old friend for a second and requested to grab a pint together sometime soon. The chat abruptly ended when one of the hospital's aids interjected himself between the conversations with the news that Hermione Granger just woke up after a week in the coma.


	12. Chapter 12

The first thing Hermione did when she woke up was she read Malfoy's card. Call it her veela instincts, but Hermione sensed that the white tulips right beside her was her mate. She felt his presence as soon as she woke up, and knew instinctively that Draco must have been there recently. She spotted the bouquet of flowers and gingerly read the small note placed next to it.

Malfoy's apology and his invitation to meet in person caused a lump to form in her throat. Hermione forcibly had to stop herself from picking up a quill and immediately inviting her mate to an French restaurant. Even if Malfoy only wanted to apologize, she knew in her heart of hearts that her veela side would do whatever it would take to stay with her mate as soon as possible. Hermione did not want that. She had to cut ties with Malfoy as soon as possible.

As far as Hermione's logical brain was concerned, Malfoy apologized and gave her flowers. She just needed to accept his apology and move on with her life. Hermione forced herself to sit back down and forget about the growing itch to reply to Malfoy's note.

Wait; was it rude not to reply to Malfoy's apology? Should she write a thank you note for the flowers and move on with her life? Should she thank him face to face after all? No, that would be an extremely bad idea. Hermione decided that she would write a thank you note instead. However, should write a formal letter or should she keep the note casual?

Hermione decided to write a small thank you note to Draco for the tulips, telling him that they were lovely and pleasant. However, she must decline his invitation for lunch citing scheduling conflicts and that she was sorry about her inability to see him in person.

Writing that note took a lot more self-control and discipline than Hermione could imagine. Hermione left her room to send her thank you note through owl but Professor Smethwick caught her and insisted that she remained in bed rest. Instead, she instructed one of St. Mungo's little helpers to send the owl for her, half convinced that Draco would just throw it away while the other half hoped that he would feel bad that she could not meet with him.

As her physician, Professor Smethwick insisted that Hermione stayed under his care for a couple more days to make sure that her she is in perfectly good health. He was also still curious to what caused her fainting spell but Hermione already had some ideas she was not interested in addressing. Looking for answers would not lighten her workload, and her mate already took up enough of her time.

Hermione's workload did not make bed-rest comfortable either. Hermione was now behind schedule of all her work because of her coma. The Healers and attendants at St. Mungo's were really making it difficult for her to study or even work. She had to hide her books under her bed and pillows while keeping an eye on the door.

Thankfully, Anthony ransacked her apartment and gathered everything she would need during her stay. He also drafted a proposal to the Minister while she was in a coma so all Hermione had to do was go over the proposal, schedule a meeting with the Minister, finish reading her textbooks, and memorize the genetic code.

"You don't have to memorize the genetic code," Anthony reminded her as he helped her pack on her move-out day.

"I know," Hermione said. "But memorizing them seemed like a basic requirement for a geneticist, doesn't it?"

Anthony shook his head in disappointment.

"With your busy schedule, I would think that you would take any opportunity to cut down on workload. You have yet to visit your parents for the holidays."

"I know," Hermione said.

"You haven't contacted them since two weeks ago. They're going to be really worried," Anthony, scolded.

"I already sent them a letter telling them what happened…" Hermione said.

"But you still haven't visited them yet," Anthony said.

"I know, that's my plan as soon as I finally leave this place," Hermione said.

"Okay then, but you still need to finish your first draft of the presentation and find someone who would be willing to be your practice audience."

Even though the proposal was almost finished, Hermione could not schedule a meeting with the Minister anytime soon. Minister Shacklebolt's secretary told her that the next available appointment was in March. In the meanwhile, Hermione needed to practice how she would present complicated muggle biology to a room full of purebloods who might not even know what a biological cell was let along DNA.

"I'm already thinking of practicing my presentation on Harry," Hermione said. "He owes me. The least he could do is to let me practice my presentation on him."

"You never told me what Harry did," Anthony said. "He's been very apologetic every time he visited you."

Hermione sighed.

"Let's just say that he told someone one of my secrets."

Anthony did not ask any questions. He picked up Hermione's luggage instead to help her carry it out to her home despite Hermione's protest that she could carry her own luggage. Anthony ignored her protests as they passed by the receptionists' table where the receptionist shyly gave them a wave.

"She likes you, you know," Hermione said as soon as they left the building.

"Who?"

"The receptionist," Hermione said teasingly. "She was eyeing you since you left the elevator."

Anthony chuckled awkwardly.

"What makes you think that she would be interested?" Anthony asked. "Besides, it's not that I have time to date somebody new right now."

"I know she's interested because she could barely look at your face when we passed by," Hermione said. "And who wouldn't want someone as sweet as you?"

Anthony blushed at the compliment. Though in the back of her mind, Hermione hoped that Anthony already got over his little crush so he could find somebody else he could fancy.

"Come on," Hermione said. "I haven't seen you date anybody ever since we entered the Healer program. There's a bunch of girls right who are just waiting for you to notice them."

"I don't have time to date anybody right now," Anthony insisted.

"That's your excuse every time a cute girl shows any remote interest in liking you," Hermione said. "You said that before we entered the Healer program. You said that after we finished the Healer program because you wanted to 'settle in' first. Now it has been a year, you are an established Healer. You got to stop disappointing other women and stop your self-inflicted exile from the dating field."

"'Self-inflicted exile from the dating field?'" Anthony repeated. "Is that what the muggles calling it now?"

"Don't distract me," Hermione said. "The point being, I never saw you fancy any girl even though a lot of girls fancy you. I haven't even seen you take a girl out on a date."

"I took you out on a date," Anthony said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't count," Hermione said. "We both know that it was just for fun."

"True," Anthony said. "I did give flowers to one of my patients. She was very cute and very sweet"

"Little girls who are about to die do not count," Hermione said.

"Fine, I'll go on a date with the next girl who asks me out," Anthony said. "If you promise to let me treat you to a meal at our old spot across the street."

"No," Hermione said. "I want to go to the Leaky Cauldron."

* * *

St. Mungo's new Healer Theodore Nott accepted his old housemate's invitation to lunch and asked to meet each other at the Leaky Cauldron. The last time they talked to each other was a brief small talk they had during the Victory Ball the Nott household hosted a couple of years ago. It turned out that Theo was very busy after the war. He went back to Hogwarts to finish his degree only because it was a requirement to enter St. Mungo's healer program.

"It has been really hectic for me," Theo said.

"From the way that you describe it," Draco Malfoy said as he they sat across each other after ordering lunch. "I did not expect that you would take up my offer to lunch."

"What made you think that I would refuse a lunch-date with the great Draco Malfoy?" Theo asked. "After all these years, you finally noticed me and asked me out for lunch."

Theo batted his eyes and gave Draco a playful grin.

"Don't even joke about that," Draco drawled. "It seemed to me that the only thing people want to know about me is my dating life. It's the last thing I want to talk about right now."

"I see," Theo said. "What's going on in your life since we 'graduated' from Hogwarts?"

"I've been really fine," Draco said. "Just enjoying the things life could bring. I have been traveling a lot and seeing the world. I have visited France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Sweden. You know the usual spots."

"I hardly call visiting just Europe as exploring the world," Theo said. "We've traveled around Europe at least five times since we were children and a lot of it is getting old. I hear from my patients that Asia is the place to be right now."

"I would try Asia if the place is not filled with flies," Draco sneered. "And the people there hardly speak English."

"There are some wizarding places to check out, if you want," Theo said. "I'm planning on taking Daphne with me around Japan and Korea sometime soon. There's a decent wizarding population there and they're pretty civilized parts."

"Are you referring to Daphne Greengrass?" Draco asked.

"That's the only Daphne that I know."

"You and Daphne Greengrass?" Draco said. "I never saw that coming."

Theodore Nott was notoriously a loner back at Hogwarts. He preferred to keep to himself and his books instead of socializing with anyone other than himself.

"How did this happen?" Draco asked. "How did you even manage to have enough time to take Daphne out on a date?'

"My father betrothed me to a Daphne Greengrass," Theo said matter-of-factly. "He wanted to make sure that he sees a grandchild before he passed away rotting in Azkaban."

After the second wizarding wary, aurors rounded up as many Death Eaters possible after the last wizarding war. Aurors did not spare even the wealthiest Death Eater. If Potter did not intervened on their behalf, Draco could have been spending life in Azkaban, as much as the though disturbed him.

However, it did not surprise Draco that there were still Aurors corrupt enough to assist richer Death Eaters do their bidding.

"How exactly did your father arranged an engagement while still in prison?" Draco asked.

"When that man wants something," Theo said. "He really goes for it. Even though he's in Azkaban right now, he's still making a decision like he is still the head of the household."

Draco could understand that. He had met Nott Sr. a couple of times in his life and the man was even more old-fashioned and restricting that Draco's own father.

"So about you and Daphne Greengrass," Draco said. "Do you guys at least get along or did she turn out to be a nightmare like Pansy?"

"It's been decent," Theo said. "She's one of the few people who I had time to talk to outside work. I do not really remember her much back in our Hogwarts days. She's good company though, but it could be just that a year's worth of talking to only sick people and Healers makes anybody's company tolerable."

On the corner of his eyes, he spotted Granger and her lackey Goldstein as they entered the Leaky Cauldron. The two of them were talking good-naturedly with each other as they sat in a booth all the way across the pub. The two of them were having a good time joking around as they speak with one another in hushed tones. The waitress came over and took their order

Their jovial conversation stopped when Granger's body tensed for a moment and looked towards his direction. For a moment, they made eye contact. Granger quickly turned away but Draco's eyes still bore on her skull.

"You're staring pretty intensely toward that table over there," Theo said. "And I heard that you've been around the hospital lately, do you want to tell me what's going on?"

Draco did not answer immediately; instead, he steeled his eyes on Goldstein and Granger. Goldstein got up and prepared to leave but Granger grabbed his hands and stopped him. Goldstein sat back down and continued his conversation with Hermione.

"So do you have a beef with one of my colleagues?" Nott asked. "I don't really care but it's nice to know why you're ignoring my presence right now."

"It's nothing," Draco said. "I just have unsettled business with Granger."

"With the mudblood?" Theo asked. "Why? Did you need to catch up on your teasing?"

"No," Draco said, practically offended that Theo would think of him that way. "Please, it's been years since Hogwarts. I have long outgrown schoolyard teasing. Granger and I needed to have a very important chat and she's been avoiding me."

Goldstein's laughter echoed throughout the bar that warranted a glare from Draco.

"Do you know what's going on between Granger and Goldstein?" Draco asked.

Nott looked at him suspiciously. He probably thought that he would do something malicious towards Granger and Goldstein.

"Nothing much, I just knew Granger and Goldstein were pretty close back when we were training to be Healers," Theo said. "They used to do everything together. They ate together, they were lab partners and sometimes they bathe together."

The last comment caused Draco to raise his eyebrows all the way up to his hairline. Even with his vast sexual experience, he had yet to bathe with anybody.

"I wouldn't know for sure," Nott said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they did seeing that they're so close to each other. They still seem close, though, despite the circumstances. Goldstein was practically living in her room while she was at St. Mungo's."

"What circumstances?" Draco said.

"Granger pretty much disappeared after she got her Healer license," Nott said. "Goldstein on the other hand is a colleague at the hospital and he's as busy as I am. Despite this, they seemed as close as they are now as they did back when during Healer training. "

Nott indicated towards Granger and Goldstein's seat. Goldstein had his arm wrapped around Granger as they whispered to each other. Granger had a small genuine smile on her face that mirrored the smile Goldstein had. The sight unsettled him but he could not help but look.

Realizing that he had been staring, Draco tried to steer his conversation with Nott back towards them. He asked about how Nott was dealing with wedding preparations, but he felt silly since Daphne was in charge of the wedding preparations. He asked about Nott's work, but sick people did not interest him. The last thing Draco wanted to talk about was his conquests, for the lack of a better term. Draco also hated talking about their years back at Hogwarts because there were only so many times he could talk about his years at Hogwarts without it inadvertently leading to the war or seeming like his glory days were behind him.

Every now and again, Draco glanced back at Granger and he felt disgusted just watching Granger flirting with Goldstein. That was until he looked around and found that he was not the only one. Draco spotted at least three people, taking a quick glance at Granger and Goldstein whenever they could.

"This always happens when Granger is around," Theo said. "Since she's a war heroine and famous, people flock to her as soon as somebody recognizes her."

"I guess wizards don't recognize filth once it faces is plastered across the wall," Draco said.

Nott whistled and clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"That's a bit harsh," Theo said. "She graduated a semester ahead and at the top of her class you know."

"A mudblood with a medal is still a mudblood," Draco said.

Granger excused herself and headed towards the loo. Draco shortly followed her. He waited for her outside the ladies' room. A few people passed that gave him curious looks but Draco ignored all of them.

When Granger got out of the ladies' room, Draco quickly grabbed her hand and cornered her with his arms against the wall.

"I see that you had time to fool around with Goldstein but you can't talk to me," Draco said.

Granger took one look at him and refused to look him straight in his eyes, instead she kept her eyes on the floor. From what he could see, Draco decided that she was not beautiful, Draco decided but she was pretty. Her face was clear of any imperfection and she had a nice enough bone structure.

"Could you please let me go Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a hushed tone.

"Not until you give me an explanation why you give Goldstein the time of day when you can't even meet with me so I could apologize in person," Draco said. "Do you hate me that much?"

"No, I don't hate you," Hermione said. "You apologized and I don't feel the need to discuss things any further."

"Then why won't give me the time of day?" Draco asked.

"We have nothing to discuss anymore,"

"Nothing to discuss," Draco said. "You don't think that we should talk about this veela-mate situation?"

"Yes," Hermione said shakily.

"Why are you so intent on avoiding me?" Draco said. "Was it because I acted an arse the last time we talked? I am sorry, I said horrible things to you and it was ungentlemanly for me to do. I promise that it would not happen again."

"No," Hermione said. "I'm not avoiding you because of that, in fact, I'm not avoiding you at all."

"I apologize, nonetheless. I was an ass back then," Draco apologized anyway.

He knew he was an ass during his Hogwarts years. He had no problem for apologizing for his childish actions if it meant he would get answers.

"No Malfoy," Granger said. "I don't hate you for what you did back when we were children. It has been years since Hogwarts and what's done are done."

"Then what is it? Bloody hell Granger," Draco said. "I am your mate! You should have run to me as soon as you found out. Its common courtesy to let me know-"

"But I don't want you to know," Hermione admitted, but Draco already know.

"What makes our sweet little self-righteous Gryffindor so afraid?" Draco drawled. "So afraid that you would hide something so big from me?"

Draco caressed Granger's hair, reveling at the scared look she gave him.

"Was it because the thought of being with me make your skin crawl?" Draco asked. "Do you find me that physically repulsive?"

"No," Hermione said. "I find you to be and extremely appealing man. The most appealing man I ever met."

Draco's eyes widened and Hermione's face was very red.

"Of... Of course I find you extremely attractive," Granger stammered. She looked like she was about to hide behind her own bushy hair. "You are my mate, everything about you appeals to me. Your voice, your mannerism, your…"

She shook her head to stop herself from saying anything else.

"If none of these was a problem for you," Draco said. "Then why didn't you just tell me from the beginning?"

That was the straw broke the camel's back. Granger glared at him.

"Oh was I supposed to rush into your doorstep and tell you that I'm a veela and that you're my mate then?" Hermione asked. "Was I supposed to somehow track you down, convince you to talk to me in private and tell you about something I wasn't even comfortable about telling my best friend? And for what? You and I both know that you are not going to stop philandering around to marry a mudblood like me. "

Throughout her ramblings, her eyes kept flickering to his mouth. Draco smirked. Draco leaned up close to Hermione's face. He let his lips hover over hers for a minute before asking.

"Do you want to kiss me?" He asked.

Draco's voice was teasing, and playful. He watched as Granger gulped, took a breath, and answered.

"Yes," Granger said shyly in her lust-laced voice. She inched towards her face but stopped. "But I won't." She looked away, embarrassed.

"Why," Draco said forcefully. "I know that you're not worried about cheating on the oaf you came in with."

"I don't want to kiss you because" Granger's eyes welled up with tears. "Because kissing you would mean a lot more to me than it would to you."

Granger tried her best to hide her face as she weakly tried to push him away. Draco let her, more out of shock to see Granger crying for the first time. She gathered herself and tried to leave.

"It could happen," Draco said to console the crying chit. "Kissing you could mean as much to me as it would to you."

Granger shook her head.

"No, you won't," Granger said, touching her lips. "With things as they are right now, I could never see you kiss me the way I want you to."

Draco watched as she tried to wipe away the tears and headed towards her booth with Goldstein. Goldstein wrapped his arms around Granger protectively, almost lovingly. Goldstein gave her a hug and murmured to her consoling words. He leaned in to her face, an invasion of privacy that she did not mind, and kissed away her tears. Granger slightly leaned over and returned Goldstein's kisses.

Draco felt sick to his stomach. He felt that he was watching an intimate exchange between lovers and he was the third wheel invading their space. He could never imagine himself acting that way towards anyone, especially not with Granger. Draco now understood exactly what type of kisses Granger wanted from him, and he did not know if he could give it to her. Draco could no longer think nor feel as he walked back to his and Nott's table.

"So how did it turned out with the mudblood?" Nott asked.

"We came to an understanding," Draco lied.

He allowed himself one last glance towards Granger. Goldstein and she were leaving the restaurant. She looked back at him and gave him a tight-lipped smile and a longing glance. Was it an apology? Was she yearning for something he could not give?

* * *

The last thing Draco wanted to talk about was Granger and this veela-mate bond thing when he got home. So of course, he had to rehash his entire experience with his parents.

His mother was waiting for him in the living room when he got home instead of having tea with her friends like those that he expected.

"There you are Draco," Narcissa Malfoy said as she walked over and kissed his cheek.

"Hello mother," Draco said.

"I expected you to come home quite a while ago," Narcissa said.

"I was out with Theodore Nott, mother."

"That sounds lovely," Narcissa said. "How is Theodore?"

"He's doing alright," Draco said. "Did you know he's engaged now to Daphne Greengrass?"

"Ah yes," his mother said as if she just remembered something inconsequential. "Daphne's mother told me that over tea a couple of weeks back."

Draco wondered why his mother did not tell him as soon as possible. His mother used to tell him even the most inconsequential fact she learned during her tea parties.

His mother ushered him upstairs, down the hall and towards his father's study where his father was waiting for him. Lucius Malfoy was sitting casually behind his desk, reading a book. The war and his stint at Azkaban had worn down Lucius a bit but he still had the poise Draco always associated with him.

"Sit down son," Lucius said. "I received a curious note."

Draco sat down at one of the study room's couches with his mother. Narcissa Malfoy summoned a house elf and asked for some chamomile tea. Draco waited politely for his father to discuss what his father wanted to talk to him about. His mother started the discussion.

"Son, we know that you are hiding things from us." His mother said delicately.

"I heard numerous reports that you were seen visiting Ms. Granger at the hospital lately," his father drawled. "Our banker also told me that you paid a hefty sum to three different lawyers in the past week. I do hope it did not mean that you are having legal troubles with the chit. I may have regained some of my political power, but I fear that a friend of Potter's like Ms. Granger would be harder to squash than most people."

"It is nothing father," Draco said. "I just have some private business with Ms. Granger."

"What business could you possibly have with her?" His mother said. "I don't think you even mentioned her for years now."

"We just had an old score to settle," Draco lied smoothly.

"Whatever this old score you needed to settle with Ms. Granger must be really important to warrant three lawyers," His father said. "Do I have to track down these three lawyers and interrogate them one by one in order to get a satisfactory answer?"

"There would be no need for that father," Draco said. "We were just discussing a recent development between Ms. Granger and me."

"And what is this recent development?" Lucius Malfoy asked.

"Recently, I have been informed that Ms. Granger is a veela," Draco said calmly.

"That is interesting news," Lucius said. "Are you sure about it?"

"I heard about it from Potter's mouth himself," Draco said. "I also had the pleasure of witnessing her turn into a bird in the middle of a party."

"That is interesting darling," Narcissa said. "But I fail to see how you are involved."

"I also learned that I am Ms. Granger's mate," Draco said.

Both of his parents did not react immediately. His father raised his eyebrow and his mother sipped her tea.

"That is an interesting development," his mother said.

"Quite," Lucius said. "Well, I guess a meeting with Ms. Granger is required. Draco, could you contact the lawyers you have hired. Narcissa, could you instruct the house elves to prepare a room for Ms. Granger to stay in."

"I'm surprised, father," Draco said. "That you would even consider welcoming Ms. Granger in our household."

"It's called practicality," Lucius said. "Since Ms. Granger's veela chose you, any action to discourage a possible relationship between you two would be only denying the inevitable and probably would do more harm than good. The best course of action right now is to mitigate the situation."

His mother nodded in agreement and sipped her tea.

"We need to contact the lawyers that you hired to make sure that our demands are met. Anybody with a First Class Oder of Merlin is welcome in our household but there needs to be some caveats. Primarily, we have to make sure that Ms. Granger understands she will not bear the Malfoy heir."

Draco practically choked on his tea at his father's demands.

"I don't know a lot about veelas and their mates," Lucius said. "If possible, we'll make it so that Ms. Granger understands that she would not officially be a member of this household," Lucius added.

In other words, his father hoped that Granger would be Draco's mistress.

"I think we could convince Ms. Granger that she won't bear the Malfoy heir," Narcissa said. "But I don't think she would be willing to become a… extra in this household."

"You're probably right," Lucius said. "Still, it would not hurt to put it in as a bargaining chip to take out later."

"You might be overestimating Granger's sensible side father," Draco said. "Granger is a Gryffindor through and through. She'd sooner run away from the negotiating table than hear out those terms."

"Normally, I would agree that Gryffindors make up in temper what they lack in sense," Lucius said. "But I suspect that Ms. Granger's veela would make her more agreeable to your wishes."

Draco did not correct his father that he did not want to suggest Granger as his mistress. He did not want to be at the receiving end of Granger's reaction. That chit was not a war heroine for nothing.

"I'm regretful to say that I could not even convince Ms. Granger to talk to me," Draco said. "I had to ambush her at St. Mungo's in order to get a chance to talk to her."

"Why is that dear?" his mother asked.

"Ms. Granger is very keen on avoiding me," Draco said. "I tried addressing the situation with her multiple times but she is insistent that she won't talk to me. I even sent a note asking a meeting to discuss the situation at hand but she declined. Next thing I knew I bumped into her with another bloke at Leaky Cauldron."

His parent's jaw practically dropped on the floor in shock, or at least they would if they were not so poised. The news took aback his father while his mother's eyes widened in surprise.

"Did Ms. Granger tell you why she declined your invitation?" His mother asked.

Draco blushed. While the question was innocent enough, he did not want to share Granger's answer to his parents.

"She told me some sorry excuse that I would never feel the same way about her as I should."

"By any chance," his mother said. "Was Ms. Granger with Anthony Goldstein?"

"Yes mother," Draco confirmed. "How did you know about Granger and Goldstein?"

"Both the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly wrote about Mr. Goldstein's dedication to Ms. Granger during her stay at St. Mungo's," Narcissa said. "It was all of my friends' teenage girls could talk about during tea. They all wanted to find someone who would visit them at the hospital every day."

The thought of teenage girls gushing over Goldstein's treatment of Granger irritated Draco. In Draco's opinion, Goldstein was a possessive prick who managed to manipulate Granger in a relationship.

"If that is the case then I could understand Ms. Granger's choice," Narcissa said to Draco's ire. "While I love you, I could easily see how your womanizing ways might have deterred her," Narcissa said.

Draco tensed. His mother always criticized him for his dating habits. His mother, for her part, sipped her tea as if she just commented on the weather.

"I could also see why Ms. Granger would choose to date Mr. Goldstein instead," His mother said. "Mr. Goldstein is as educated as her; he has a very respectable job and has been loyal to her. Comparatively, Mr. Goldstein is a wholesome and tame alternative to you."

"Thanks for the boost of support mother," Draco mumbled which he instantly regretted.

His mother placed a hand on top of his; an action she probably thought was comforting. Draco kept his mouth shut and his face straight as he prepared for the lecture that would undoubtedly come.

"I could see how this situation might upset you," His mother said in a hushed tone. "But if only you did not philander around other women and worked in your father's business like we asked, then we would be in a better negotiating position with Ms. Granger."

"Now Narcissa," Lucius intervened. "There's no use criticizing the boy over what he should have done."

Lucius crossed the room and sat down on the couch right across from them. He refilled his cup of tea, though Draco could sense that he much preferred to have brandy right now, or a whole bottle of vodka.

"How many people know that you are Ms. Granger's mate?" His father asked.

Draco counted on his head. Potter knew, and so does Goldstein as well as Blaise. There was also a myriad of spectators at Potter's party, but who knows how many of them figured out that he was Granger's mate.

"Not including us, at least three people," Draco said.

"At least three people?" Lucius raised his eyebrows.

"I do not exactly know how many there are," Draco said. "I don't know how many people Granger told nor do I know how many people figured it out from Potter's party."

His father tightened his grip at the teacup that Draco was afraid his father would break the cup and Draco had to be at the receiving end of a lecture.

"Narcissa," Lucius said as he turned to his wife. "I think we need to talk to veela experts instead of lawyers. Do you happen to know any, my love?"

"The only respectable Magizoologist that I know of is Newton Scamander and his brood," Narcissa replied. "I heard his son took up magical zoology but he now refers to himself as a wizarding naturalist."

"Please contact the family if you can," Lucius said before turning to Draco. "I want you to stop dating around those mudbloods. I also want you to stop dating around purebloods as well. From now on, you would avoid any possible romantic entanglements."

Draco wanted to argue against his father's orders but wisely chose not to open it up.

"Your mother is right to point out that your womanizing ways scared off Ms. Granger," Lucius said. "We may have restored some of our social standing but there are numerous people out there who are eager to tear this family back down. The last thing this family needs right now are rumors that our womanizing son is the only veela mate in history rejected by a veela."


	13. Chapter 13

March 5, 2004

Hermione thought that her presentation was a disaster. She only had a month to practice her speech, the visual aids were computer-made instead of handmade and she practiced the speech all the way through ten times only. She only practiced with Harry once, and she was unable to make a second revision.

Throughout her presentation to the Minister and his secretaries, Hermione fumbled a couple of times, looked at the wrong undersecretary's eyes and she accidentally blocked her visual aids half the time.

Throughout her presentation, Hermione spotted Minister Shacklebolt's and his secretaries' eyes gloss over at times. She knew that she lost their interest, despite their polite smiles and head nodding. The blank stares remained even when she mentioned all the positive impacts her research might bring to the Wizarding World.

At the end of her presentation, Minister Kingsley clapped and congratulated her for her informative information. However, Hermione knew that he was saying that to make her feel better.

As Hermione shrunk her materials so that they could fit into her small handbag, she wondered if she should have worked harder.

Maybe she should have practiced her speech more. Maybe if she added all the diseases muggles were able to predict a child would have even before the child was born, but the wizarding world did not care about genetic diseases that they could cure with magic. Maybe if she spent less time lying on the bed thinking about…

No, _he does not love you_. Hermione told herself, stopping herself from thinking about silvery hair and soft lips that teasingly hovered over hers. _He does not love you_ , she repeated to herself. It had become her mantra in the past couple of months since she last saw Malfoy. That phrase was the one thing that could recalibrate her focus to what really matters, her work.

If only she was a little farther along with her research. Maybe if she discovers a link between genes and wizard diseases she studied during her time at St. Mungo's Hospital, the Minister, and his secretaries would be more interested in her work.

She knew she should have done all-nighters at the lab. She would have lost some sleep but she could use the extra lab time to work on her personal research. Maybe then, she would have discovered something. Hermione yawned; life would be so much easier if she could use a time turner in the muggle world.

One thing Hermione knew, she needed to talk to her best friend. Hermione headed straight toward the Auror's office and bypassed through the security with a breeze.

Hermione knocked on her best friend's office door and she entered when she heard her friend answered.

"The meeting was a total and absolute failure," Hermione said as soon as she entered the room.

"Hello Hermione," Harry said, looking up from his desk. "It's nice to see you too."

"Of course it's lovely to see you, Harry," Hermione said after realizing her faux pas. "I haven't seen you in a long time. How's the wedding plans going?"

Harry dropped his quill and invited Hermione to have a seat.

"The wedding plans are going along well," Harry said. "Everything is almost set up. We just need to figure out how many people are going."

"I thought this is going to be a simple ceremony?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we were initially planning it to be a simple ceremony," Harry said. "But then I realized exactly how many people I want to invite."

"How many people were you inviting?" Hermione asked.

"Well, …there's Dumbledore's Army, everybody in the Order of the Phoenix. Ginny thought to invite everybody in the Holyhead Harpies and she wants me to invite some of my friends in the Auror Department so it will not be awkward that she brought her entire team while I did not bring any work-friends…"

"And you have to invite the entire Weasley clan including Great Aunt Muriel," Hermione said, reminding Harry of the ill-mannered woman they met during Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Harry groaned in frustration, which made Hermione smile wryly.

It was almost surreal to talk with Harry about his wedding plans when just an hour ago she was worried about her schoolwork. If she chose to go straight to practicing magical medicine, would she have a boyfriend at this time? If things have gone differently, would she be planning a wedding alongside Harry, instead of worrying over presentations and exams?

Harry wiped his face and glanced up at Hermione.

"How about you Hermione," Harry said. "What brings you here in the middle of the day?"

"You mean other than for our usual afternoon tea?" Hermione said jokingly, the last time they had tea together was months ago. Again, she mused at how different their lives now compared to a short time before.

Her muggle science classes were taking more time and energy than she would like. It would not make any sense if she traveled in between the wizarding world and the muggle world every day for afternoon tea.

"Are we starting afternoon teas again?" Harry asked.

"That would be absolutely lovely," Hermione said. "I wouldn't mind it if you start visiting me in between classes."

Harry smiled, knowing perfectly well that it would be impossible for him to sneak out the wizarding world in one lunch period without a timeturner.

"Well… since we're both here, might as well have a little tea break," Harry said.

Harry summoned his tea tray from the cupboard, filled the teapot with water and heat up the teapot with one flick of the wand.

"So, how was your day so far?" Harry asked as he offered Hermione her cup of tea.

Hermione told Harry about the hard day she was having. The blank looks the minister and his secretaries gave her, her belief that Kingsley would not endorse her work. She worried that it would derail her plans. What if she could not find enough sponsors to back her work? That would definitely derail her research and she might not finish everything in her 5-year plan.

"Don't beat yourself about it, Hermione," Harry said reassuringly. "It's just one meeting. You would have a lot of other opportunities to show the wizarding world the power of genetics."

"But you don't understand Harry," Hermione cried. "If I can't even make Kingsley, who actually likes muggleborns, to get excited about my work, how could I expect anybody else to support me? How could I convince other purebloods to donate to me?"

It was no secret that the purebloods hold most of the wizarding world's wealth. A quick ride to Gringotts vaults reveals that. The oldest pureblood families always had the biggest vault and had the most security while the newer ones had the least protection.

Even though she hated to admit it, Hermione could not realistically begin a giant research project in the wizarding world without any financial support from purebloods. Moreover, as England's most famous muggleborn, she's not exactly pureblood society's favorite person.

Thinking about it makes Hermione want to give up her giant dream. What was she thinking, starting a gigantic research project all on her own? Even muggle researchers had an entire team of behind their backs while working. All the while, it is just her…and Anthony who knew only what she could teach him during her spare time. They could not possibly tackle a project as big as mapping out the entire magical world's sequence in such a small amount of time.

Hermione shook her head. Her research project has the potential to save many wizards and witches' lives as they have done in the muggle world. Who knew what genetic anomalies out there in the magical world, waiting for someone like her to discover?

Moreover, Hermione could finally find some answers. Her chart of veela traits she inherited was giving her more questions than answers. It seemed that the "veela gene" was not one specific genetic marker, but Hermione would not be surprised to learn that the markers were closely located to each other. This only brought on more questions than answers for Hermione. What happened during her family's genetic history that resulted in her unique phenotype? Is one French Veela trait simply more dominant than the Greek Veela trait? Alternatively, did she have a mosaic genetic makeup?

Hermione became increasingly restless as she let the questions swirled in her mind. She knew that she could not give up her goals right yet. Not when she sacrificed so much time and energy going through university the second time around to find answers.

"You know that my vault is open to you if you ever need it," Harry said.

"No Harry," Hermione said. "I can't just rely on your coppers alone for a project this big. I would end up using your entire vault and then some. In addition, it would be unethical if one family supplies my entire budget. People could accuse me of bias and discredit my work. It would be much better if I could get an organization, a group of families or even a department to fund me instead. "

In addition, Harry was marrying Ginny soon. As much as Hermione appreciates her friend's support, she could not, in good conscience, take money from the Potter family vault when Harry was about to start a family.

"If I could interrupt right here," A deep voice originating from the door said.

Harry and Hermione turned their attention to a handsome dark-skinned man at the door Hermione recognized as Blaise Zabini. She remembered Blaise Zabini from her Hogwarts years, as the quiet statuesque Slytherin on their year. He was gorgeous, undoubtedly, but his association with blood supremacists and his statement that he "doesn't date blood traitors" made Hermione wary of associating with him.

Thankfully, Hermione never had a chance to bump into the beautiful former Slytherin. He was not active during the war, not like her. They did not exactly run around in the same circles, despite Professor Slughorn's plans to create a network of high achieving and well-connected students. Nor were they involved in the same field.

Hermione could not think of any reason why Zabini would have any business with her. Therefore, he must be here on official business with Harry. After all, they were in Harry's office.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your little tea time," Zabini said with a bored drawl. "But I'm told to deliver this folder to Potter."

He handed Harry with a folder overfilled with papers. It might be an important case.

"Well hello there Miss Granger, I haven't seen you in a while," Zabini said.

Hermione found it odd that Zabini was directly talking to her.

"I do believe that it has been a while Mr. Zabini," Hermione said. "How have you been?"

"I've been well," Zabini said. "I would ask how have you been in turn but I couldn't help but overhear that you are having troubles financing a project."

Hermione was surprised and suspicious of where their conversation was heading. Finances were not exactly the first thing you talk to someone you barely knew.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about," Hermione said. "I'm just a bit behind on my timeline for this research project and I'm just overreacting."

Harry stopped going through the file folder to raise his eyebrow at her but Hermione ignored him. Instead, she watched carefully as Zabini smirked at her.

"I heard that the brightest witch of our time has a new project," Zabini said. "Some of my colleagues just assumed that you were traveling around the world curing diseases when you disappeared right after receiving your healer license."

"Traveling the world does sound exciting," Hermione agreed. "But I've been exploring muggle libraries in London instead."

"Well no wonder you are not making progress on your project," Zabini said. "I highly doubt that muggle libraries would be more complicated than Lavender Brown's personal library."

Hermione rolled her eyes while Harry shook his head.

"Actually," Hermione said in the haughtiest voice she could muster. "I'm trying to create a research proposal on magical genetics to see if we could apply muggle principles to magical diseases the magical community has yet to answer."

Zabini opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish as Harry smirked at her. Hermione straightened her posture as she continued.

"Muggles have taken strides to curing and figuring out diseases. They also managed to predict the chances of a couple passing along genetic traits like height and eye color as well as finding out the chances of developing diseases in later life just by gathering the parent's cheek swabs. Meanwhile, the magical community is still fixated on…blood."

Harry shot a shit-eating grin at Zabini's flabbergasted face. Meanwhile, Hermione grabbed her teacup and took a sip.

"The magical community is a bit archaic with its thoughts on genetics," Hermione said. "I just thought that it would be beneficial for the magical community to learn a thing or two from muggles."

Harry closed the file folder and handed it back to Zabini.

"Thanks for the visit," Harry said. "But tell the Department of Mysteries that we have already gone through these case files."

"I don't know Potter. I'm just the messenger," Zabini said. He turned towards Hermione "I hope to see you again soon Ms. Granger."

* * *

Hermione left Harry's office refreshed. It was nice catching up with Harry but it was also nice to give a Slytherin blood supremacist a good talking to, even if it was a just Zabini. Inevitably, she had to finish teatime with Harry when she had to go back to the lab while Harry had to go back to work.

On her way out of the building, she entered the Ministry's elevator where Zabini shortly joined her along with a short, slim older man with a wiry mustache and wise eyes.

"Ah, there you are," Zabini said upon seeing her again. "Minister Podadera and I were just talking about magical genetics."

Hermione did not know what game Zabini was playing at, but she decided to keep her mouth and watch as Zabini and Minister Podadera join her in the elevator.

"Ms. Granger here was explaining to me earlier her plans to create a new field in the healing field," Zabini said. "Ms. Granger had been studying the muggle art of predicting a child's traits."

Minister Podadera listened politely as Hermione glares at him.

"Ms. Granger over here made this point that muggles are able to predict a child's hair color or even height just by swabbing the parent's cheeks," Zabini explained. "Just imagine, knowing what your baby would look like before it's even born."

"That is very interesting," Minister Podadera said. "But I don't see how the Department of Magical Sports and Games would be interested in Ms. Granger's schooling."

This surprised Hermione. What was Zabini doing?

"Ms. Granger's schooling is interesting and all but that is not the most exciting part of my conversation with Ms. Granger," Zabini said before giving Hermione a smirk. "Ms. Granger is planning to start a research project to see if the things she learned in the muggle world would apply to this world."

Minister Podadera scoffed.

"That's an amusing idea Mr. Zabini," Minister Podadera said. "However, I still don't see how muggle methods would have any effects on magical folks like us."

Was he serious? Hermione thought.

"I know for a fact that genetics works in every living thing," Hermione said. "And I know this from experience. I have been studying magical plants during my spare time and I discovered that magical plants use the same biological material found in muggle plants, animals, and even muggles.

"All living things use the same 'alphabet' to create the millions of living creatures we have in this world," Hermione said. "With that information, muggles were able to prevent and cure disease. They created medicine that could make a child grow up taller and stronger than any of their parents. Muggles already did most of the hard work. I just want to use the same technology to cure wizarding diseases like lycanthropy.

"There are wizards, good wizards with lycanthropy like my old professor Lupin, who are refusing to have children because they believe that they would pass on the curse. Who knows, we may found a way to suppress lycanthropy in the womb."

The elevator door ringed and opened, welcoming in ministry employees who were unaware of what just happened. Minister Podadera left the lift and Zabini followed him.

Hermione leaned back against the wall, feeling defeated somehow. That was another government official who would not back up her project. Not that she wanted the Department of Magical Sports and Games to sponsor her research, but it hurt nonetheless.

* * *

A few days later, Hermione received an owl from Zabini as she was busy reading her massive textbooks in the King's College library. She spotted the barn owl sitting on the ledge of the university library with a letter attached to its leg. Hermione abandoned her workstation and ran outside to the darkest corner of the courtyard to avoid prying eyes.

 _Congratulations Granger,_ it said.

_Minister Podadera wants to schedule a meeting with you to talk about the possible use of muggle medicine in Magical folks. He is interested in sponsoring a study._

_Sincerely,_

_B. Zabini._


	14. Chapter 14

February 20, 2004

Rolf Scamander was a peculiar fellow, the Malfoy family decided. He came to the Malfoy Manor carrying a suitcase like the one his famous grandfather used. His windswept brown hair careless flopped to the side and his dreamy eyes always seemed to stare off far away.

Like Draco, he graduated from Hogwarts. He was five years older than Draco and was a proud Hufflepuff, hence why they didn't socialize with one another during their brief time they attended Hogwarts together. Not that he stood out among the forgettable Hufflepuffs anyway. The only thing notable about the man was his expertise on magical creatures which the Malfoys normally had no interest in if it weren't for the situation at hand. And the Malfoys would usually not spend their time sitting around in their living room while staring at an open briefcase, waiting for an absentminded Hufflepuff to show up.

"What spell do you think they used on that briefcase?" Mrs. Malfoy asked her husband and her son.

"I, an Undetectable Extension Charm like the ones used in Wizards tents," Mr. Malfoy replied to his wife.

"Do you think it's the same briefcase as his grandfather?" Mrs. Malfoy asked.

"It doesn't have the wear and tear that indicate it is the same briefcase," Mr. Malfoy said.

Draco, on the other hand, could not believe that his parents were so relaxed while his life hung in a balance. He sunk into his seat, earning him a glare from his mother who would no doubt ask him whatever happened to the posture lessons she gave him when he was a child.

"Aha! Here it is," an arm fisting a journal popped out the open briefcase.

Rolf Scamander emerged from the briefcase covered with hay and a triumphant smile on his face. His messy hair was made even messier by the presence of dust turning his brunette hair gray. His wrinkled robes caught every speck of dust that fell out of his hair.

"This little bugger was covered with cobwebs that I couldn't see the spine," Rolf Scamander said. "Good thing I thought of casting a cleaning charm halfway through, otherwise I would have been down there all day."

Scamander got out of the old briefcase and rudely shook off the dust to the perfectly clean floor.

"Now let's see," Scamander said. "As you know, my grandfather famously traveled around the world in search of magical creatures all over the world and wrote a book about them."

"Oh really? That did not factor in our decision to contact you at all," Draco said impatiently.

"Draco, have some manners," his mother said.

"That's alright," Scamander said. "I should go straight to the point. Among the first places he visited was the continent where he encountered a made up of several veelas. From what my grandfather wrote in his diary, veelas are very secretive and are only willing to talk to them if he promised to only write the most basic information in his textbook. The pages afterward have a lot of empty spaces which tells me that my grandfather concealed the information with a concealing charm."

"We could easily reverse a concealing charm with a revealing charm," Lucius Malfoy said. "It should not be a big problem."

"I agree that it shouldn't be a problem if my grandfather used an ordinary concealing charm," Scamander said. "But my grandfather learned a complex concealing charm in his travels that require blood magic to reveal."

Scamander laid the journal on the coffee table and rolled up his sleeves.

"As you can imagine," Scamander said. "I only reveal passages during special circumstances and I would have to be specific as to what the problem was so I would know what to look for before the revealing charm fades."

He eyed the Malfoy family suspiciously. Though they said that they needed help as their one and only son is a veela mate, they have yet to reveal the name of said veela. Anyone of the Malfoys could pass as a veela in the French variety.

Scamander watched as the Malfoy family squirm in their seats, and he couldn't blame them as it was a personal question. Though he had yet to use the revealing charm on the veela section of his grandfather's journals, he knows well enough that veela families tend to be very secretive. Rich old pureblood families tend to be as well. If Scamander's hunch was correct, then this would be the most personal question he could ask the Malfoy family.

"Of course," the Malfoy patriarch said. "We recently discovered that a veela has chosen our son Draco as her mate."

"That seems like a great honor," Scamander said.

"Normally I would agree," Lady Malfoy said. "But unfortunately, this veela was a muggleborn who have the misfortune of not knowing veela etiquette and actually chose to reject and even avoid our son."

"That's…that's…" Scamander didn't know the proper word to describe what was going on. It's fascinating but that word would leave off the wrong impression. It's interesting, but he didn't want to imply that this situation was trivial when it was anything but.

"…unfortunate", Scamander finally said.

Scamander sat down the couch. He needed to gather his thoughts. This might be the most complicated situation he would face.

"I think I would need to know the whole story in order to help you," Scamander said.

"Why of course." Mrs. Malfoy said.

The entire time the Malfoys told their story, Scamander noticed that the mate in question did not contribute any of his opinions. For the most part, Draco Malfoy maintained a bored expression on his face. Sometimes he would see a glint of anger flash through Draco's eyes but then it would quickly disappear.

"Is there something physically wrong with the veela?" Mr. Scamander asked after hearing the entire tale.

"Aside from a little fainting spell around Christmastime for exhaustion," Mrs. Malfoy said. "I could not dig up any ailments for the poor girl."

"But we also discovered that the girl was overworking herself for quite some time now," Mr. Malfoy said. "I'm sure you heard of Ms. Granger's reputation. She famously finished her studies at St. Mungo's early and disappeared."

"I heard from her professors that she has always been a hardworking girl," Mrs. Malfoy said. "But perhaps the exhaustion from her schoolwork along with the veela transformation has ruined her system so much that her veela mistakenly chose our son as her mate."

"I never heard of veelas misidentifying their mates before," Scamander said. "Now, if you would excuse me. I would have to dig into my grandfather's journals to see if we could find a solution to your problem."

Scamander grabbed the journal and his grandfather's briefcase.

"If you don't mind," Scamander said. "I would head out now."

The Malfoys excused the magizoologist let him go on his way. Scamander could already tell that this was not a veela problem, but a lover's quarrel. Then again, the entire problem was that they were not lovers. On the other hand, by the look of the Malfoy heir, it seems that it's a good thing that they were not lovers in the first place…which was precisely the problem. Scamander scratched behind his ear. He would have to do an all-nighter for this.

* * *

March 30, 2004

Hermione was partially grateful but at the same time Its skeptical of Blaise Zabini's help. While she was grateful that Zabini introduced her to the Minister of Magical Sports and Games. However, her inability to pinpoint the exact reason why he was so helpful or why he helped her out with her research proposal made her dubious of his motivations. She could not figure out the into of her newest ally if she could call him that. They had little to no interaction during their years at Hogwarts together aside from their mutual membership in the oh so exclusive Slug Club. The years after Hogwarts didn't give her a good reason to re-ignite that association.

Therefore, when Blaise Zabini came looking for her in his wizard robes at her muggle university in the middle of muggle London to give her great news about her project, she flipped. Had Zabini ever heard of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy? Then why was he walking around in expensive wizarding robes with his wand in hand near her dormitory?

If Hermione didn't just ace her final project of the year, she would have bitten Zabini's head off right there and then. Instead, Hermione practically pushed him towards her room much to Zabini's complaints.

"Did nobody ever tell you to wear muggle clothes when surrounded by muggles?" Hermione practically shrieked at him after throwing her laptop towards her bed and casting a few silencing charms around her apartment.

"I don't own muggle clothing," Zabini said.

"Then borrow one from Harry!" Hermione said.

"I don't think Harry's muggle clothing would match me," Zabini said with that cocky smile that tells Hermione he found the situation funny. God, this guy…

"I'm serious," Hermione said. "You're lucky that everybody here is panicking about midterms to even notice your wizarding robes. Doesn't the Statute of Secrecy mean anything to you?"

"Can you really blame me?" Zabini asked while grinning. "I can't exactly waltz in a muggle store in my wizarding robes and buy a brand-new outfit using galleons before I see you when I'm sitting on very exciting news."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. If Hermione had the money, she would order Zabini some clothes online. Or hopefully, Hermione was scary enough to make him think twice coming back here. Then again, Zabini was laughing off her irritation. Could he be serious every for once?

"Since I'm graduating soon," Hermione said. "You would not find a reason to visit me in a muggle dormitory every again. But just in case I'm putting a request to connect my fireplace to the floo network."

"Now that we have that sorted out," Zabini said. "Shall we move on to the good news I rushed in here to tell you in the first place?"

"Fine, go ahead," Hermione said in exasperation.

"Remember during your presentation, Runcorn was rolling his eyes the entire time?" Zabini asked.

"I never had, interaction with that man and I highly doubt I ever will," Hermione declared. The memory of that man scoffing every five seconds made Hermione want to give him another dose of Nosebleed Nougat. Then again, Hermione hated the man as soon as she learned that Runcorn liked to "expose" muggleborns during the brief time when Voldemort was in power.

"That might change soon," Zabini said. "In the same meeting, you gave some candy to a muggleborn who was concerned that his little squirt would be too small."

Hermione remembered that day. Alderton was imprisoned during the war and was unable to work during the time. His wife used their savings while he was away and when he got out and when he got out, he had to claw his way back to his pay grade before the war. Though the war lasted less than a year, the young family remained impoverished for a while as they tried to get back to their feet. Early years of malnutrition has contributed to stunting of growth for the children which concerned Alderton. After all, how could his boys stand up for himself at Hogwarts when they might end up shorter than the rest of their schoolmates?

That day, Hermione told Alderton to get a prescription for some growth hormones while the children are still growing. Zabini might not know the difference between giving people pills and telling them to get a prescription, but Hermione was not about to explain muggle medicine and muggle medical laws to a hyperactive Zabini.

"Yes, I remember that day," Hermione said. "And the man's name is Alderton"

"Well, Anderson started bragging in the office about his children's growth spurt," Zabini said. "Nobody believed him at first, of course. But then his children came to the Ministry's Easter event off and everybody could see that the entire family must have grown a foot since Christmas."

That was not an unexpected result, Hermione thought. Just as long as the children don't get too much growth hormones too quickly otherwise it would cause the children to be tall and result to heart problems down the line.

Zabini rambled on about how Runcorn started inquiring if he could get some of that muggle growing pills so that his own children would grow up to be the strongest and tallest children in their entire class. Hermione wanted to smack her head.

Hermione took off her coat and relaxed on her bed. This day had been too long. After her midterms, 2 hours of sleep from the night before and lecturing Zabini, she just wanted to lay in bed for the next 12 hours. She knew she should care about what Zabini was saying, but she just didn't have the energy to do so.

"As lovely it is to have you here," Hermione said, jumping to her school-assigned bed. "I just finished midterms today and I don't really have the headspace to talk about our grand plan."

Hermione drifted off to sleep, not caring if Zabini left her muggle dormitory through apparition or through the door. The last thing she expected was to see Zabini still in her muggle dormitory flipping through one of her books as he sat on her rickety chair.

"Urrgh… Zabini," Hermione croaked. Her dry mouth made it hard to form cohesive words. "What are you still doing here?"

"Oh, you're finally awake," Zabini said. "You practically fainted to your bed back then. I figured that I should help you out for a bit."

Zabini strode to the mini kitchenette attached to her room and presented her with cacio e pepe.

"Here, I made you this," Zabini said. "There's nothing much in your pantry so that's the best I could do. I could make you something better once you get the chance to go grocery shopping."

Hermione gratefully took the bowl of pasta from Zabini and ate it from her bed. She watched as Zabini magically cleaned up her room and for the first time, Hermione felt embarrassed about the disheveled state her dorm was in.

"You shouldn't have to do that," Hermione said. "I plan to clean up during the weekend after the midterms are through."

"Okay," Zabini said carefully. "But when did you plan to finish up drafting your proposal to study Quidditch player's spit?"

"It's DNA and I planned to finish the proposal this weekend."

"When are you planning to do your laundry?" Zabini asked, pointing at the ever growing pile of dirty laundry. Hermione already resorted to scourgifying her less dirty clothes when she needed it.

"This weekend…," Hermione said, her cheeks flushed.

"And when are you planning to go grocery shopping?"

Hermione chewed her lip nervously, suddenly realizing her hectic weekend schedule.

"After school, this Friday?" she suggested.

"Let me guess," Zabini said. "You get off school after five in the afternoon or close to five giving you very limited time to browse around the store."

"Okay, I get it," Hermione said. "I just have a lot of things on my plate."

Zabini quirked an eyebrow.

"Sorry, muggle expression," Hermione explained.

Zabini sat regally on her bare bones school-loaned chair.

"Hermione, I told you that I am here to help you," Zabini said. "And I cannot help you if you don't tell me what you need. I know that you are a very capable witch. However, one witch could only do so much."

Hermione bit her lip. She didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful by telling Zabini that she didn't exactly trust him for helping her out of the blue. Despite Zabini's friendly demeanor, a question still hung over Hermione's head. Why was he so helpful towards her?

"I know," Hermione said, her voice reserved. "I'm really grateful for everything that you had done but I don't exactly have a house elf running around to help me out."

"True," Zabini said. "But I'm right here."

"Wait wha-" Hermione said. "No, I could never ask you to do my laundry for me."

Zabini looked at him in shock but immediately laughed heartily. A laugh so loud and hearty that the room vibrated. Hermione's face flushed red. _Of course,_ Zabini wouldn't do laundry for her. What was she thinking?

"Sorry," Hermione said. "I might not be feeling myself right now."

"That's totally fine," Zabini laughed. "We should probably get you something heartier to eat. That cacio e pepe is clearly not enough."

Zabini stood up from the chair and grabbed Hermione's wrist. "Come with me."

Zabini practically dragged Hermione out of her bed forcing Hermione to throw her bowl away to a corner. They passed by several muggles who didn't even bat an eye that a half-awake student with bedhead was dragged of by a man wearing wizarding robes.

On the nearest apparition point, Zabini apparated them in front of a tall building that has a distinctive curved blue roof, black wired balconies, tall windows, and pale stone walls that defined Haussmann-style architecture. She was in Paris.

Zabini pulled Hermione to the front door where he pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and just entered without knocking.

"Nonna," Zabini called out. "Nonno."

Hermione heard heavy footsteps and out came a tall older man wearing a beret. Years of smiles were permanently etched on his face. He was slowly followed by an equally happy elderly woman with her hair pulled back into a bun.

"Blaise!" the elderly woman cried out.

The elderly couple rushed over to them and engulfed Zabini in a warm hug before quickly fussing over Hermione in Italian and French. Zabini had to break Hermione away from the elderly couple before talking to them in rapid Italian. Hermione ended up standing on the corner awkwardly waiting for them to finish their conversation.

"Hermione," Zabini finally said. "This is my grandparents."

Zabini turned towards his grandparents.

"Lei è mi amica," Zabini said.

"Ah, I see," Zabini's grandfather said. "It's nice to meet another one of Blaise's friends."

"Oh…Um…It's nice to meet you as well," Hermione said.

Zabini spoke something in Italian that excited the older woman and put a twinkle on the older man's eyes.

"You just finished your midterms," Zabini's grandmother said as she ushered Hermione down the hall and into a dining room.

Even before Hermione entered the room, she was bombarded by delicious smells of a home cooked meal. There were Caprese salad, fresh rolls, pasta, stew, potatoes, tiramisu, and of course, there's wine. Hermione had to quickly wipe away the drool escaping her mouth. That was embarrassing.

"Come join us for dinner," the elderly woman said in her thickly accented English.

Hermione practically curtsied in gratitude as Zabini's grandfather make one more place setting for her. The food was so delicious that Hermione didn't even care that she could not keep up with the conversation even though her hosts switched to speaking in English for her convenience.

Hermione tried the salad first, then the rolls before adding a bit of the butter. Hermione became vaguely aware that the Zabinis were asking her a question but her mouth was full. Thankfully, nobody minded.

"We could talk during dessert," Zabini's Nonno said. "Just eat for now."

Hermione didn't have to be told twice to dig in as elegantly as she could. Even chatty Blaise was speechless every time he took a bite.

"My nonna is the best Italian chef in all of Paris," Zabini said proudly when he finished his third serving.

"That's only because I've been cooking Italian food since I was a little girl," Nonna said, as she waved off the compliment.

"Nonsense," Nonno said. "Even as a young woman you were the best chef I ever encountered."

Nonno kissed his wife's cheek.

"I'm still thankful that your veela chose me."

Hermione froze for a second. Wait… what? All of a sudden, the welcoming meal turned into a setup for an interrogation she desperately didn't want. She excused herself from the table, desperate to get out of the room. Away from Zabini and his ilk.

Zabini followed her to the living room.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked without turning around.

"A little birdie told me that you're a veela." Zabini said. The smile in his voice could be heard even though she didn't see it.

Hermione clenched her fists. Thanks to her little blip during Harry's engagement party, she had multiple suspects. Worse, she didn't know if Harry and Ginny's guests also told her secret to whoever.

"A lot of little birdies know that I am a veela." Hermione said. "I just wish they don't tweet so much."

"Fair enough," Blaise said. "It was Draco."

Hermione sighed. Her shoulders slumped and she sat down on an antique chair.

"Are you his proxy?" Hermione asked. "Did he tell you to be friendly to me on his behalf?

"No," Zabini said. "Draco would never ask me to do that. Besides, I don't get involved with anybody else's love lives."

Zabini sat down on the couch right across Hermione. He looked straight to Hermione's eyes, making sure that she knew that he was speaking honestly to her.

"Remember when I said that I am here to help you," Zabini said. "I mean every word of it. You're family to me now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I’m sorry for my erratic posting schedule these past two and a half years. My only excuse is my wonderfully busy life (yay!) and my constant state of transition (boo). Once my life is less nomadic and more settled and less busy, I would have a more regular posting schedule.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. An unnamed guest suggested that this fic is showcasing how Hermione and Draco shouldn’t be together. It surprised me that it took you guys this long to realize this since the disclaimer was in the first chapter.
> 
> I realize that I made an error last chapter. The story seemed to skip a year when in reality all of the last chapter happened in the year 2004. And so is this chapter.
> 
> I want to keep apologizing for my erratic posting schedule. I promised myself that I would post once a week but (beautiful, exciting, and frustrating) life keeps happening. Alas, there are only 24 hours in a day and I only have one flawed body. Also, I’ve since graduated from my dream school which I mentioned in earlier chapters. So yeah, lots of life changes during the course of writing this fic.

Ch. 15

Why did Hermione felt disappointed that Malfoy was not behind her sudden friendship with Zabini? She should have known. Of course, he wouldn’t send one of his friends to help her with her goal. _He doesn’t love you._ Hermione repeated that mantra. And why would Malfoy love her? They barely know each other, they have practically nothing in common. Why can’t her veela understand that?

“How many full-fledged veela have you met?” Zabini asked, which diverted her attention to the man who sat across her on top of a plush antique couch.

Hermione didn’t know what the question has to do with anything, but she readily admitted that she never met a full-fledged veela before. Fleur consulted her before, but she was only part-veela. She saw a whole bunch of them during the world cup before their fourth year, but she never actually met a full-fledged veela before.

“Now, you know one,” Zabini said. “My Nonna is a veela of the French variety though her family is from Italy. She already knows that you’re also a veela and—“

“You told her?” Hermione asked.

“Of course,” Zabini said. “What did you think we were talking about in Italian as you stood awkwardly in the corner?”

Hermione pursed her lips. She did not appreciate that people she barely knew talking about something so personal right in front of her. That alone warrant as rudeness in her books but to do it in a language she didn’t even understand made it even more annoying, even malicious. But they weren’t, were they?

Hermione’s eyes were drawn to the door leading to the dining room. She expected shock and curiosity from anyone who learned that she was a veela. Zabini’s grandparents’ nonchalance was a delightful change of pace. Then again, his nonna was a veela.

“I would never have guessed that you’re related to veelas,” Hermione said after a pregnant pause.

Zabini smirked. She realized that she was giving him the same curious expression she received when her friends learned she was a veela.

“Hi, I’m Blaise Zabini. My grandmother is full-pledged veela while my grandfather is a wizard making me a part-veela. Technically, I’m a half-blood.”  

Hermione was surprised. She heard from Harry how Zabini snottily rejected Ginny because she was a “blood traitor” way back in sixth year. She just automatically assumed that meant that he was a pureblood like most of the snotty Slytherin crew. Not that she would say that out loud in front of his face.  

“Most people assume that I am a pureblood,” Zabini said, not needing to cast legimens in her direction her. “I don’t correct them because it’s easier to let people believe that I’m a pureblood than tell them that I spent my childhood surrounded by veelas and be bombarded with questions on what it was like.

“Oh, by the way,” Zabini said. “Just so you know, I personally know dozens of full-fledged veelas. I grew up with a lot of them in fact. So, I grew up in this community, it's my family.”

Hermione blinked in response. She did not know what to make of this strange new development. She had so many questions, but the first one that popped into her mind was…

“Veelas have a community?” Hermione asked, feeling dumb while doing so. So much for the brightest witch of her time…

“Of course,” Zabini said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Veelas are magical creatures like centaurs and goblins. Why shouldn’t they have a community of their own? Granted, we don’t really advertise our existence but it exists.

“Most people only see veelas as Veelas alluring magical creatures who have a mate, and that’s all that they are," Zabini said. "What they don't know is that Veelas have their own culture, customs, tradition, and magic. Do you honestly believe that ungodly beauty just sprouts from French Veelas out of nowhere? Or that Greek Veelas were born with the ability to sing an opera? No, that came with veela upbringing.”

For the second time, Hermione blushed in embarrassment. She kind of did believe that she just lacked those natural charms veelas have but maybe that was not the case. A small part of her…okay, a big part of her, worried that there must be something wrong with her veela heritage because she was neither gorgeous nor magically talented at song and dance. Yet, Hermione forgot the first lesson every geneticist learn, _genes are not your destiny_.  Genetics undoubtedly affects a lot of things in life, but it was not everything.

“I’m sorry,” Hermione said. “I’m a veela yet I know nothing about everything you just said.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Zabini said. “You may be the brightest witch of our age but how could you know something nobody told you about?”

Zabini sat next to her and gingerly grabbed her hands. The suspicion Hermione felt earlier disappeared, replaced with a vague sense of embarrassment and comradery that was never there before.

“I should be the one apologizing to you,” Zabini said. “I should have recognized that you were a veela while we were at school. I should have invited you to meet my family, the veela side of my family, during summer vacation so you could learn your heritage.”

Hermione shook her head. Would she have appreciated learning more about her veela heritage back while there were in school? Yes, definitely. Undoubtedly. She could have grown up in that community. Perhaps she would have been better off. Or perhaps she would end up living among veelas in Italy during the war which left Harry and Ron fending for themselves.

“I appreciate your apology,” Hermione said. “Even though you didn’t need to. House rivalries back at Hogwarts were so intense, the only time we had to socialize was during Slug Club anyway.”

“True,” Zabini said. “Even though old Slughorn intended the club to be social, old school rivalries don’t just disappear over a bottle of good firewhisky.”

Zabini and she grinned at the memory of their old Potions professor trying to create a network of elite Hogwarts students. Harry avoided the parties as much as he can, but he was the famous Boy-Who-Lived. He didn’t need to network like other students such as herself for a potential job in the future.

Now that they were in their twenties and their peers were either working or looking for work, Hermione knew that she could rely on Professor Slughorn’s network to help her out once she started to seriously fundraise for her project after graduating from her muggle university.

“We could have bumped into each other in the quote ‘real world’,” Zabini said. “I could have bumped into you at St. Mungo’s but you were too busy with your Healer Training that’s going to waste.”

“Hey,” Hermione chastised with a grin on her face. “My Healer training is not going to waste! I’m just repurposing it for research instead.”

“In a muggle University?” Blaise asked.

Hermione explained to him her grand plan of integrating muggle genomics and wizarding medicine.

“That is a bit interesting,” Zabini said. His eyes looked thoughtful.

“You know,” Zabini started. “It wouldn’t surprise me if somebody in America or even the continent is working on the same thing as you.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Hermione said. And she did. The Wizarding World may be small but it was not so small that another wizard would be working on magical genomics like her. She thought that she would encounter more people with similar interests as she pursued her goal. That was not the case. Going to a muggle university as a witch was a very isolating experience.

“Let me go through my contacts to see what I could find for you,” Zabini said.

“You would do that for me?” Hermione asked.

“Of course,” Zabini said. “You’re family now.”

Hermione did not know how to respond to that. It was still weird to her that Zabini was openly calling her family. Was it because she was part veela? She really didn’t know anything about veelas, did she? Hermione could not remember the last time books failed her.

Zabini’s nonna entered the room, asking them what they were doing letting good food go cold.

**April 1, 2004**

St. Mungo's was useless. There was only one Healer that specializes in “semi-human, semi-magical humanoids”. The waiting list for non-emergencies was a yearlong. His mother was appalled that Draco had to wait over a month just to get one simple question answered. What’s the point of a massive donation to the hospital if he couldn’t get an appointment the next day?

All that waiting was wasted when all the bone-headed healer could offer was his opinion of Granger. To nobody's surprise, the old professor really liked the bookworm, Granger. The only Professor who was smart enough to not fawn all over Granger’s bookworm ways was Draco’s own godfather, Professor Severus Snape. May he rest in peace.

Draco passed by several sickly patients and hospital staff, including Nott and Goldstein. God, he never thought that he would hate that buffoon. Draco and Goldstein were friendly enough during their Hogwarts years, that was until Goldstein joined the stupid Dumbledore’s Army. Their somewhat friendly relationship did not go well after that. And after their last encounter, the possibility of friendship was thrown out the window for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, Draco made the mature decision to ask Goldstein to talk in private.

“I’m not going to tell you where she is,” Goldstein said right away, already prepared for another verbal spar.

“You should,” Draco said.

“Why?” Goldstein said, avoiding his eyes. No doubt to prevent Draco from going through his memories with legilimens. Not that Draco was well versed with the spell in the first place despite his mastery of Occlumency at a young age.

“Because you know it was the right thing to do,” Draco said. “You and Granger may be under the delusion that you two would ride off into the sunset but you two are also smart enough to know that it's an exercise in foolishness. I know that you and Hermione have a very… close relationship. And I’m sure that your companionship is very much appreciated but we all know that your relationship with her has an expiration date.”

Goldstein clenched his jaw ever so briefly that Draco would have missed it if he wasn’t paying attention. Good.

“The clock is ticking,” Draco said. He removed imaginary creases from his robes as he prepared himself to leave. “In a couple of years, Granger would turn thirty and her veela heritage would call out for me. It would be best if she stopped her foolishness sooner rather than later.”

Now that he said his peace, Draco walked away from the quiet healer.

“She wouldn’t run to your arms,” Goldstein called out.

Draco stopped walking without turning around. He stood there and quietly seethed as Goldstein had the last word.

“I know that my time with Hermione is short,” Goldstein said. “And I have no problem with that. We’re young. Many relationships end when you’re young. That’s the whole point of it, to learn a lot about what we want in a relationship. And Hermione already knew that she didn’t want you.”

Draco resisted the urge to hex the healer. Let the man have the last word for now because he was going to make sure that Goldstein and Granger's farce of a relationship ends with Granger in his arms instead of her on her deathbed.

**April 2, 2004**

Whatever gave professors the bright idea to stuff all projects and exams the week after Easter Holiday? Or every holiday, for that matter? Seriously, why did they do that? They always gave this stupid excuse that it would give students more time to study for the test or work on their project and made themselves sound so considerate. In reality, the extra time to study for midterms meant more time to worry about said midterms instead of spending time with family or in Hermione’s case, her passion project.

Hermione tried. She swore she tried to budget her time equally between school work, socializing with friends and family, as well as her passion project but it all became muddled when one of her professors planned an optional review session. So of course, Hermione had to come to the review session in the middle of her Easter hols when she should be spending long-delayed quality time with her parents. Of course, her little trip to Paris with Blaise—yes, they were in first name basis now—didn’t help with the matters.

“Hermione, you’re thinking too much again,” Harry said.

He pushed a pint of firewhiskey to her hands. An encouraging smile on his face, he sat down next to her at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron.

“I can’t help it,” Hermione said. “I can’t just forget the midterms because the professors would often repeat half of the questions to the finals.”

“Good,” Harry said cheerfully. “That means that you already studied for half of your finals. Less work for you.”

“That logic only applies if I was right the first time around,” Hermione complained.

Harry rolled his eyes.

“Same old Hermione,” Harry said which earned him a glare.

“You know, there’s no use worrying about it right now,” Harry said. “The test was taken. The project was submitted. The time already passed and you can’t take it back. Worrying about those things only give you premature wrinkles and undue stress.”

 “Easy for you to say,” Hermione said. “It’s been years since you took a test.”

“True,” Harry said. “But now I have investigations to head as well as trials to prepare for.”

Hermione conceded defeat.

“I’m not saying that school isn’t hard,” Harry said. “I don’t have to worry about homework anymore and I can just forget about the day as soon as I go home.”

"I guess bringing homework wouldn't mix well with wedding planning," Hermione said as she took a sip of her pint.

“Or with small children,” Harry said. “and a fiancée going through morning sickness.”

Hermione paused as Harry gave her a cheeky smile.

“Is Ginny pre-" Hermione said.

Harry shushed her.

“We’re trying to keep it a secret,” Harry said. “God knows Molly would make us marry each other tomorrow if she found out.”

“Oh Harry,” Hermione stage-whispered. “I’m so happy for you two. But wouldn’t everybody found out at the wedding? How far along is she?”

“It’s very early,” Harry replied.  “We just found out last week. Since the wedding is in a couple of months, we’re only telling a handful of people for now.”

“Of course,” Hermione said, hugging her best friend. “Thank you for telling me.”

They looked at each other’s face and gave each other a happy smile. Hermione felt happy for her best friend, she truly did. Harry always wanted to have a happy family and it’s finally happening for him. It was just a bit weird that all of it was happening while she was away.

“Everything is changing, isn’t it?” Hermione said, echoing the words she uttered years before.

“It changed years ago, Hermione,” Harry said. “Life is just happening.”

Hermione pushed back happy tears as she hugged her best friend again.

“I promise as soon as I graduate this summer that you and Ginny would be my main focus,” Hermione said. “But for now, go back home to Ginny.”

Harry laughed as he obeyed, leaving a bitterly happy Hermione at the bar. A wedding and a baby on the way. Two things that would never happen in her life.

Hermione pushed back the tears and chugged the rest of her firewhiskey. She laid her head against her hand, her thoughts heavy. She ordered another pint, and then another. She ordered the fifth pint as somebody occupied Harry’s seat. Without even glancing at his direction, Hermione knew that it was her veela mate, Malfoy. He was drinking a pint of beer, she couldn’t tell which one. Hermione knew that he’s waiting for the right moment to say something, and she didn’t care to wait.

She was tired. She was tired from her school work. She was tired from her trip to Paris. She was tired of feeling bad for herself. She was tired of feeling jealous of Harry and Ginny. She’s tired of envying Blaise’s nonna and her mate during that dinner. She was emotionally tired of running away. Why did she deny herself from her mate? Why was she denying herself the satisfaction of kissing him?

Hermione took Malfoy’s hand and guided him to rooms upstairs, slamming more galleons than necessary at the bar. She looked for an available room and pounced. Each kiss sending electricity throughout her body, energizing her tired form. He responded in kind, practically clawing away her clothes.

Yes, this was right. This was how it was supposed to be. It was her right to tear away his perfectly nice robes, exposing his lean form. This felt right. She pushed him toward the bed, ready to ride him but he rolled them over so he was on top.

Yes…

He ravaged her in the way she needed. Why did she wait this long?

 _He doesn’t love you_. A voice in her head called out.

That was right. He didn’t love her. But it shouldn’t matter, right? She was an adult. She had casual sex before. He had casual sex before. This means nothing for the two of them. It shouldn’t matter, right?

A small corner of her mind rejoiced as Malfoy palmed her breasts as he left butterfly kisses down the valley of her breasts to her stomach and to her

Hermione was emotionally tired to resist. _He doesn’t love you_. That’s right. He doesn’t love me and he never will. This meant nothing. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well... that was a mistake.

She left before dawn broke. It was a mistake, it was a horrible mistake. She should have stood firm. She shouldn’t have given in. She shouldn’t have dragged him to that room. She shouldn’t have removed his clothes. The biggest mistake was kissing him, touching him, and holding his hands.

No, she stopped herself from thinking about last night even further. She shouldn’t have glanced at him. She shouldn’t have grabbed his hands. She shouldn’t have kissed him. She shouldn’t have taken off his clothes. She should have just left as soon as she felt his presence.

The worst part was that she didn’t even cum once. Hermione tried, she really did. She tried multiple positions and different paces but she just couldn’t cum. Why didn’t she orgasm with her own mate? She had no problems letting go with Anthony and Charlie, so why didn’t she orgasm with her mate?  Hermione tried different positions and different paces all night but she just didn’t reach her peak.

She planned to write down all her findings as soon as she headed back to her dorm room and come up with a hypothesis that should explain this unusual turn of events. That plan was thrown away when she saw Blaise Zabini in her room. How did he even enter the room? Did he use the Unlocking charm?  In front of muggles??? And how come Zabini visit her more than Harry? Didn’t he have a life of his own?

“What are you doing here?” Hermione asked.

“I came here to help you out with your proposal,” Zabini said casually as if he didn’t just break into her dorm room. “I put my name on the line to get you this meeting. I am going to make sure your proposal is going to blow away Minister Podadera.”

“It is early in the morning,” Hermione said.

“And you had a million of things to do,” Zabini said. “I see that you haven’t done your grocery shopping yet.”

“That’s what the dining hall is for,” Hermione said, feeling defensive that Zabini was criticizing her lifestyle yet again.

“And you haven’t done your laundry,” Zabini said, ignoring her comment. “Honestly, I don’t know why you don’t have a time turner on hand so you could have more time in the day.”

"I live in Muggle London," Hermione deadpanned. "I couldn't risk using magic that powerful."

“Well lucky for you, I’m here,” Zabini said. “Now, let’s get going.”

Zabini cast a couple of cleaning spells, turning Hermione's tidy room into one worthy of college brochures. Hermione was vaguely sure that they were breaking a couple of laws pertaining to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. She was also certain that Zabini did not care.

Hermione was not in the mood for this. But she was British and Zabini had a point. It was the British way to stuff her emotions down until a more convenient time.  She did need help. As much as she hated it, Zabini’s negligence of International Wizarding Law was helpful for her. It would be foolish of her not to accept her now… what were they? Friends? Acquaintances? Business Partners? Distant relatives?

 Before she joined Zabini and his quest to turn her dorm room into the picture of perfect campus life, Hermione grabbed emergency contraception pill from her dresser and discreetly popped it on her mouth. Though Hermione made sure she cast a contraceptive spell after sex—and before whenever she remembered—she uses birth control pill just in case.

Some muggles use two types of contraception to make sure that they didn’t get pregnant and avoid sexually transmitted infections. But Hermione was a witch, therefore she wanted to use both magical and muggle means for contraception. The only question was if birth control works between a veela and her mate.

It should work, right? Hermione didn't research it and she doubted that there would be any records of it anyway. Maybe she should ask Zabini, he seemed to know a lot about veelas. Then again, Zabini and Malfoy were friends. How could she bring up the topic of conversation without telling him that she slept with Malfoy yesterday? Whatever relationship they have was still recent while his and Malfoy’s must have been decades already. It would be idiotic of her to think that he would be impartial in that matter. It would also be foolish of her to think that he would prioritize Malfoy’s interests over hers. No, she needed an impartial veela expert.

Hermione placed the thought at the back of her head in order to focus on the task at hand. She needed to make a wonderful presentation to live up to Zabini’s promises. Her work had been lacking lately but today was different. She felt energetic, ideas were flowing through her. She bantered with Zabini when he was mildly annoying before.

Was it because of last night?

Hermione imagined getting together with her mate for years. The reality was nothing like she could imagine, in the most interesting way. She felt her fatigue web away, her body filling with life that she forgot existed. However, she never reached orgasm. Why was that?

Hermione entertained the thought of asking Zabini once more.   Maybe she was overthinking this. Perhaps Zabini was the type of guy who did not care about other people’s love lives. She had so many questions after last night and should she really be worried what side Zabini was on if the end result was that her questions would be answered.

No, that won’t do. They were working on a presentation right now. It would not be good to bring up a question that private. She would have to wait until later at a more opportune time.

"Something is bothering you," Zabini stated.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Hermione said.

 “You’re enthusiastic about your work but you’re not exactly focused on it,” Zabini said. “You keep glancing at me like you wanted to tell me something. We are not going to progress unless you spit it out.”

“No, it’s nothing,” Hermione insisted.

She tried to focus on the work at hand but her mind kept wandering to her mate. Last night was just… confusing, exhilarating, and heartbreaking all at the same time. She wondered if it was the same for Malfoy. Was he curious that she was not next to her when he woke up? Did he crave her presence? Or did he expected her to leave, even prefer it?  Or did he even care that she was gone? She wished she was there to see his reaction, to know what he was feeling like a properly mated veela.

Oh god, she left as soon as possible. That was the rudest thing she had ever done.

Zabini dropped his quill once more.

“Come on Granger,” Zabini said. “You are clearly distracted and this project is not going anywhere. We’re no longer sad and broody teenagers who think that it’s us against the world. Well, literally, in your case. There’s a whole world of people out there willing to support you. A lot of people are still willing to kill you, I admit, but I have faith in your ability to defend yourself. But there are a lot of people out there willing to help you out. All you need to do is reach out.”

Hermione tried to brush off the offer but stopped herself. Who was she kidding?

“I’ve made a mistake Zabini,” Hermione said. “Malfoy sat at the bar with me last night. I…I don’t know what happened and what came over me but the next thing I knew we… we…”

Blaise knew what had happened without her finishing the sentence.

“Well isn’t it exciting?” Blaise asked carefully.

"No, it's horrible," Hermione said and tears start flowing down her face. "Last night was beautiful. It was everything I could ever dream of but by the end of it I have to remind myself that he doesn't love me."

Snot started drooling down her face along with tears. Hermione knew that she looked unattractive right now and tried to wipe away her tears with her sleeve but the tears kept flowing. Blaise, the sweetheart that he was, hugged her gently and he hid her face on his shoulder. He cast a silencing charm in the room so that nobody could disturb them. Blaise gently scratched her back while he whispered for her to calm down.

“It’s so cruel,” Hermione cried as drool flowed along with tears. God, she must have looked horrendous. "The veela inside me couldn't be happier but I have to tell myself that it was just something physical. That there was nothing going on between us and that he doesn't love me. And I keep telling myself over and over that he doesn't love me and that it doesn't mean anything to him and that it shouldn't mean anything to me but it's hard… Blaise, it's hard."

Blaise allowed Hermione cry on his shoulder until her tears seeped through layers of clothing. He didn’t mind, Hermione needed this right now.

Her chest hurt, and she could feel hiccups forming. God, she had to stop crying, she willed herself to stop. She needed to stop crying.

“Don’t hold yourself back,” Blaise said. “It’s alright.”

Hermione let go of what little restraint she had left. Blaise was amazing the entire time. He let her cry until her lungs gave out. He brought her water when she started to hiccup. He scratched her back whenever he could. He put away all of Hermione’s stuff, insisting that the day should be focused on rest rather than work. She should sleep, he insisted, she had a long night.

 

Last. Night. Was. Brilliant. Granger was wild and experimental one moment to gentle during one round and sweet the next. The months of frustration Draco felt ever since he found out about Granger's veela heritage was finally released in a passionate night. The best part, Draco did absolutely nothing to encourage the chit. No words were exchanged between them the entire night other than cries of passion, their bodies just knew what to do. Last night was pure unadulterated animalistic lust. Finally, things were going Draco's way.

Well, sort off. Given the choice, Draco preferred to screw Granger at the comfort of his own room rather than the dinky suite Granger dragged him into. He really needed to talk with her about her habit of ravaging men at the Leaky Cauldron. These rooms could not be hygienic, nor cost-effective, nor in any way comfortable. Though it was useful for a spur of the moment rendezvous. The next time would definitely be different.

Granger was nowhere to be seen when he woke up, which was fine with Draco. She was probably going around thinking that last night was a mistake. But she’ll come around. He knew from the moment he found out that she was a veela and he was her mate, that the two of them would end up sleeping with one another. It was inevitable, why delay it? Finally, things were heading in the right direction.

Draco grabbed some breakfast before leaving Leak Cauldron, thinking that it shouldn’t be a big deal. He quickly learned his mistake when Pansy Parkinson of all people stepped into the pub.

“So, this is where you screw your mudlblood whores,” Pansy said.

“Classy,” Draco said sarcastically.

"You're right," Pansy said, sitting right across from him. "You're a changed man from what I've heard. There's only one mudblood you had an eye on lately, and of all people, it's the bushy headed Granger who is dating that Goldstein."

Draco did not bother asking what idiot told Pansy such sensitive information. Secrets and rumors were the Slytherin way. Instead, Draco focused on rewriting the narrative.

“They’re not dating,” Draco insisted. They couldn’t have, Goldstein was only a placeholder for him.

“They’ve been together for years,” Pansy said. “From what I learned from Witch Weekly’s obsessive coverage of Potter’s friends Granger and Goldstein go on dates, visit each other at the hospital and from what I heard from Nott, they also sleep with each other. They sound like they’re dating to me.”

Draco tried to remain cool but his utensils dug harder against his palms than expected.

“They were the picture of a healthy relationship. Little girls are holding them up as the ideal couple. Which left the question, why you spotted sitting next to Granger at this very establishment last night? If you’re trying to split them up, I want in.”

“I must admire your vindictiveness,” Draco said. “But I do not need your help to woo any bird, especially Granger.”

Because she’s already mine, Draco thought.

“It’s not your charms skills that I have no confidence in,” Pansy said. “But let’s face it. Years of teasing Granger back at Hogwarts and your reputation as a womanizer does not put you in a great position in the first place.”

Draco could see her logic, but what Pansy didn’t know was that Granger was a veela. And that changes everything.

"May I ask why you're so eager to split up Granger and Goldstein?" The last three words left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"Why I want her humiliated of course," Pansy said. “What could be more humiliating for the brightest mudblood of her age than to leave behind a seemingly picturesque relationship to be with a man everybody knew would eventually settle down with a pureblood.”

 Draco remained tight-lipped as he ignored Pansy. He said his goodbyes after finishing his meal and headed home. He took a shower and planned to stay in bed all day when Blaise appeared his room through the floo.

“Expelliarmus," Blaise said. “Stupefy.”

Draco’s wand flew out from his hand before he was hit by the stunning curse which blasted him across the room.

 “What the bloody hell Blaise?” Draco asked.

Draco never saw Blaise so angry before. He knew that this day was not going to be as good as he had hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my years of reading fanfiction, there's often that one hookup scene that would make all the angst and anxiety between two characters wash away. I hated it. I always wanted to write a hookup scene that would make readers shake their head in disappointment rather than rejoice.
> 
> In other news, I'm embarking on a more profitable online-writing venture. Namely blogging. Let's face it, fanfiction is not paying the bills and I have to pay off those student loans. This is a new space for me and I am still in the middle of developing the site.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's bad day.

Draco picked himself up from the floor, his body sore from his violent flight across the room.

“What the bloody hell Blaise?” Draco asked angrily, masking the slight fear he felt from angering his longtime friend.

“You fucking fucked her,” Blaise seethed as he prowled towards Draco.

Draco didn’t have to guess which “her” he was referring to. Though Draco knew that it would be for the best if he and Granger just get together already, there was a chance that Blaise would be mad at him for approaching Granger. He did not expect this reaction though.

“Granger? What of it?” Draco asked. “I thought you said you don’t bother with other people’s love lives.”

“You selfish boneheaded wanker,” Blaise said. “I told you not to treat her like one of your mudblood whores.”

Blaise grabbed Draco’s robes, his hand reached on top of his head, ready to punch. Draco raised his hand in surrender.

“Would you please let me put on some clothes first?” Draco asked.

Blaise grudgingly allowed his old friend to cover his modesty. Draco quickly grabbed trousers and his shirt, not bothering to put underwear in his haste to cover himself up.

“What were you thinking Malfoy?” Blaise asked.

Blaise never called him by his last name. This was serious.

“She’s a veela,” Blaise rattled on. “She’s your mate. You can’t just sleep with her.”

“It was consensual,” Draco insisted. “There’s nothing wrong with two consensual adults having sex.”

Blaise punched him in the face, surprising Draco.

“You fucking idiot,” Blaise shouted. “She’s in love with you and you didn’t even say a single word to her. Other mudbloods got the courtesy of getting photographed in your arms and you didn’t even talk to her.”

That gave Draco pause. He couldn’t remember talking with Granger last night. But surely, they did, right? Yet somehow, Draco could not remember a single topic they talked about last night. Did they really go straight to shagging each other without saying a single word to one another?

“How…?”

“She spent the morning bawling her eyes out all over my robes,” Blaise said. “Do you know how much dry cleaning would cost to take out snot from Italian silk?”

Now that Blaise mentioned it, Blaise’s robes had sticky wet patches all over that must have been Granger’s snot and tears. Draco was reminded of the time when he cornered Granger at the bar. They almost kissed back then before Granger rushed into Goldstein’s arms with tears in her eyes. How come Granger runs crying to another man’s arms whenever they have a moment? God, he really was an ass. He should remedy this.

Draco decided that he needed to remedy the situation swiftly. He asked Blaise where Granger was but Blaise declined to answer. Granger was passed out cold when Blaise left her. Her eyes and throat were swollen after a good cry. This only brought up the question why they in the same room in the first place were.

There was a knock on the door which was quickly followed by Draco’s mother opening it. She looked impeccable in her matronly robes. Instantly, she asserted her dominance over the two young men by merely standing by the door, a skill only a mother could possess.

 “Why is there so much ruckus in here?” she asked.

Draco quickly tried to say that everything is fine. The last thing he wanted was to discuss his apparently horrid night with Granger. Graciously, his mother left the room but left the door slightly ajar, letting the boys know that she could come back in at any time.

Thankfully, Blaise was not angry enough to embarrass him in front of his mother. Instead, he marched a little too harshly against the antique rug.

“I have one rule in life Draco,” Blaise said, switching back to calling him by the first names basis. “I do not get involved with anybody’s love life and I do not want to start now. Therefore, unless you stop playing around and take my heritage seriously, I do not want you anywhere near Granger.“

Blaise left with a flourish of green flames far too dramatic for Draco’s sensibilities. Italians…

* * *

Draco’s disastrous day did not end with Blaise. Despite his mother’s considerable tact, she could not ignore the little she overheard. What’s worse, his father was involved.

“I’ve heard you had a merry little one-night-stand with your veela,” his father said over dinner.

Oh, God.

“I also heard that she ran straight to Blaise's arms in tears afterward.”

Oh freaking God.

“I know you do not have any affection for the girl,” his mother said. “However, it’s uncouth to end your trysts with the girl crying. I know we did not discuss what is proper behavior…in these types of situations. But perhaps one is sorely needed.”

Fuck.

“What exactly did you tell the Granger girl when you gave her the news that she would be your paramour?” His father asked.

The pregnant pause that came afterward heavily implied that Draco should answer. He definitely did not want to do so.

“We did not,” Draco said simply.

Draco did not know which was more awkward, the silence or the awkward conversation.

“Did you at least have a nice date with her?” His mother asked.

Draco maintained silent.

“I heard from my friends in the ministry that your little veela is heading a new project involving inheritance,” his father said. “From what I heard, it involved something muggle but it impressed Minister Podadera.”

“Why would the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports be interested in inheritance?" His mother asked.

“Apparently it involves traits inherited from parents to child,” Lucius Malfoy said. “Minister Podadera and I had an enlightening conversation on the physical attributes necessary to be successful as professional Quidditch player."

“That is wonderfully interesting,” Narcissa Malfoy said. “And you say that Ms. Granger is heading a project on this topic?”

"Yes, she is," Lucius replied. "It's still in its early stages but the proposal looks promising. Draco, has she discussed this with you?"

“I am afraid that she did not,” Draco said.

“Did you learn something new about your veela?” His mother asked.

When will this conversation end?

“Did you even exchange a single word with each other?” his father asked.

There was a stray tassel string on the tablecloth that was a centimeter longer than the rest. Draco would need to order one of the house elves to fix that.    

“I am highly disappointed in you,” his mother said. “I did not teach you manners and courtesy appropriate for the heir this noble house so you could court your veela using the only charms available to a muggle street whore,”

Draco’s parents whispered amongst themselves. He couldn’t help but feel that Draco was a child once more. He prepared himself for a scolding that was eventually about to occur.

“It would seem that we have been too lax with you,” his mother said.

“Perhaps it is time that you come under my tutelage,” Lucius said. “It would seem that you would need a refresher course on how to behave as the Malfoy heir."   

* * *

Hermione came by during his shift. She usually did that whenever she had a breakthrough in her research. Most of the time they were really technical discoveries even Anthony didn’t understand. Most of the time, he was just happy seeing her excited that she was making progress doing something she loves.

This time…something was different. She met him in the cafeteria, instead of sneaking into the Healer's mess where they… Anthony smirked at the thought. What could he say? New discoveries made Hermione horny. God, he loved her brain.

Of course, that in itself was not unusual but it was unexpected. Hermione smiled as soon as she saw him, though the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. On the table was a plastic bag filled with to-go boxes. 

“I found it,” Hermione said with a giant smile on her face.

She gestured for him to sit down across from her. She took out a to-go box and hand it to him. It was filled with curry and rice and presented in a haphazard manner that would be unappetizing if they weren’t in St. Mungo’s cafeteria.

“You’re an angel,” Anthony said. And he meant it. Any meal he wasn’t eating the free hospital food was a blessing. “Found what?”

“So I bought you some butter chicken,” Hermione said. “I know you don’t like it really spicy but the clerk said that they are an authentic Indian place so they suggest people try the mild spice first. They even gave everybody a glass of milk just in case.”

She took out a to-go cup presumably filled with milk.

“I didn’t even know that the best thing to use against spicy food was milk,” Hermione said. “Apparently the burning sensation we feel when we eat spicy food comes from a chemical called capsaicin. Milk, on the other hand, has a protein called casein which binds with the capsaicin and washes it away from the tongue."

“That’s interesting,” Anthony said patiently.

Hermione was acting differently, Anthony observed. Anthony never saw her ramble before, which was… fun. After a while, Anthony observed that Hermione was not acting like she usually did. She’s energetic, yet unfocused. She was smiling, but Anthony sensed a deep sadness. Something was wrong.  

“Hermione,” Anthony said. “You mentioned that you discovered something new.”

“Oh right,” Hermione said.

“I found it,” Hermione said. “I found out where magic comes from.”

Wait, what? Why was she rambling about milk and chilies when she discovered something that important?  This was big news. Possibly the biggest discovery in the history of magic.

“I found it out during class,” Hermione said. “We were learning about Non-Mendelian inheritance then it came to me, that magical ability could be explained by a single autosomal dominant gene if it is caused by an expansion of trinucleotide repeats with non-Mendelian ratios of inheritance.”

Anthony has no idea what she just said but he was just excited for her.

“Of course,” Hermione said. “It’s just a working hypothesis. I still need further research to make sure that this is tru-“

Anthony ran towards her side of the table and pulled her up from her chair. He carried hoisted her up and gave her an excited kiss. She giggled in response but suddenly stopped.

“Is there something wrong?” Anthony asked.

“I…I slept with someone,” Hermione said against his lips.

Anthony chuckled. Was that all? Didn't he already demonstrate to her that it did not matter after she confessed to sleeping with one of the Weasley boys?

“I…” she paused. “I slept with Malfoy.”

Oh, this was different. Anthony let her go, practically dropping her to the floor. This was different. This changed everything.

He sat down in silence, not even looking at her in the eye as he sat back down. They needed to talk about this, but they shouldn’t make a scene in the middle of the cafeteria. Silently, Anthony finished his butter chicken.

They finished their meal in silence as Hermione looked at him with worried eyes the entire time. Once finished, Anthony gestured her to a quiet room. He could see that she was scared. For what, he didn’t know. Was she afraid that he would explode on her? No, he would never do that.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Anthony finally said. “I can’t be your fuck buddy anymore.”

 “Don’t call yourself that,” Hermione said.

Why would he call himself that? The term was so crude and demeaning. It diminished the friendship, the partnership they developed over the years.

“But that’s what we are, or were,” Anthony said. “We never really got around to defining what this is. We’re not dating, nor are we a one-night stand. We’re good friends, at least at one point we were. I think we both screwed it up once we started fucking each other and I was fine with that for a while.”

Anthony scratched his head, Hermione waited patiently for him to continue.

“I can’t say exactly why I didn’t stop this sooner but I told myself that this has got to stop as soon as you find your mate,” Anthony continued. “Of course, that was before I learned that it was Malfoy…and I thought it would end right then and it didn’t…but now that you screwed him… I don’t know. It’s just too much for me. I have to draw the line somewhere and I guess this is where I’m going to draw it.”

It broke her heart but Hermione understood. They had been in a stagnant dead-end relationship for years now, preventing each other from moving on. She might be fine with it, but it was not fair for him.  

She stood to give Anthony a gentle hug. She was happy to see him move on, but at the same time, she felt sad that this… thing… is ending.

Hermione pressed her head against Anthony’s chest. Anthony wrapped his arms around her in a way that was both comforting and reassuring. Small tears started forming from her eyes. Strange, she was sad, yet she was happy for her friend at the same time.

“You put me in a bad place,” Hermione said. “Now I don’t know who to bring for Harry and Ginny’s wedding.”

They both laughed.

“I didn’t even know you were planning on taking me,” Anthony said.

“Of course, you goof,” Hermione said. “I couldn’t imagine anybody else as my plus one.”

She loved him, in a way. Not the way a girlfriend should, not in the way she loved her mate. Yet, it was difficult not to harbor some affection for this man who warmed her bed for years. They were perfect on paper. They were both highly educated and ambitious young adults. By any standard, they were perfect for one another.

At the same time, they always knew that they were on borrowed time, and that time has come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. So a lot of my fanfic readers are curious about my blog… which made me think about creating another one just for my fandom loving self. My other blog was about travel so let’s make this one an opportunity to interact with all of you.
> 
> Think of it as the expanded, more fun version of my author's note section. We could talk about all the reasons why I'm taking so long to finish this fic or let's talk about other fandoms like anime.  
> Though I would need to your guy's help in deciding which platform to do it in. Twitter? Tumblr? I've never really tried these platforms so you guys decide which platform to berate me . I already made the handles and posted it on my profile so nobody could pretend to be me. I just need you guys to follow and whichever platform has the most followers where I would put my focus.


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